After Christmas Blow Out!

Last week I received a gift card to Walmart for Christmas from one of my customers. I was very touched by the gesture and it gave me another excuse to do more after Christmas shopping--as if I really needed an excuse. LOL (Seriously, someone stop me before I buy another spool of $0.50 ribbon--I'm running out of room!)

While shopping I saw that all of the special Holiday Martha Stewart crafts products were 75% off. We're talking clear stamp sets (5.5" x 7.5" sheet), paper punches, and 6-packs of glitter all for $2.20 each. I was in heaven! I ended up with 2 punches, 2 stamp sets, and 2 glitter packs all for under $15. I need more Christmas stamps like I need a hole in my head, but I couldn't pass them up.

I was especially excited to find the dove paper punch that is the same as the one in the regular craft section, just in Christmas packaging so instead of $9 it was $2. I've had my eye on that particular punch ever since Annapurna showed on her blog how easy it is to crop off the bottom wing to make 2 different birds with one punch. I don't think I would've ever thought of that on my own unless I accidentally cut off a wing. :-)

I hope everyone else is having as much fun finding after holiday bargains! Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend.

Nothing Crafty Today

I haven't really finished anything new in the craft department so instead I thought I'd give you some fluff filler--fluffy kitties, that is. :-)

First up is my Sadie. She's 12 yrs old now, but I got her from a shelter when she was 5. She's definitely a handful, but she can be so sweet sometimes that it makes it all worth it. (She's very hard to photograph so this is the best I could get.)

Next up is our new addition to the family, Lucy, that I introduced a little while back. She's about 8 months old now and we got her from a shelter 2 months ago. She's the cutest little ball of fuzz who loves to snuggle, play, and has made it her mission in life to make her older sister Sadie like her. I have to admit that after only 2 months there is A LOT less hissing and growling going on so maybe there is some hope. How could you NOT like her?

I hope to be back to my regularly scheduled craftiness soon, but until then I hope you enjoyed my "fluff" photos instead. Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have a warm, snuggly day. (It's only 4 degrees in St. Louis right now, with a high today under 20. Brrrr!)

Non traditional Christmas

The last challenge on the PTI forum (CMWC35) was to make a non-traditional Christmas card. It could be non-traditional colors or images or whatever you wanted to do. I chose the color route by choosing Dark Chocolate and Pink.

My punched snowflakes are made out of pink shimmer paper with small bling centers. The sentiment is from PTI's Believe set and the snowflakes are from Snowflake Serenade. I used a Nestabilities label die and although you can't tell in the photo I embossed the edge and sponged on some Sweet Blush ink while the paper was still in the die for a nice white edge. It looks much nicer in person.
I was finally able to attempt this challenge since I finished the last of my Christmas cards and got them ready for mailing. I am so relieved to check that off of my to do list.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you have a great rest of today.

Christmas Remix

After I made my last post I realized that I should post a picture of my tree, not just the cute fuzzy kitty under it. So here you go:

I was so excited to put up my tree this year because it is a new one that I got after Christmas last year for an unbelievable price. It was a $300 tree that I got on clearance for $30! It's a pre-lit one that comes in only 3 pcs so it was much easier to put together than my previous tree.

Of course, this tree is larger than my last one (7.5 ft) so my previous angel tree topper looked really tiny. I went on a 3 day mission to find a new one and was elated to finally find this one. She has the prettiest feather wings and she looks perfect on top of my new tree.

I also revised the card I made in my last post using my Nesties. I ended up with my final design for my cards this year.

I had some great sparkle yarn that was the perfect accent for this card. It matches the avocado color I used on the tree so well. This is my first time using my new classic square nestabilites and I LOVE the embossing detail around the edge and the fact that you can create such a fun border by sponging ink while your paper is still in the die. I see many more nesties in my future. :-)

Thanks for stopping by today. Wish me luck finishing up all of my Christmas cards this weekend so I can get them out in the mail in time.

Cute Kitty

I wasn't sure I was going to put up my Christmas tree this year since the addition of Lucy to our family. But, I decided to try and just not put any of my "good" ornaments on the tree. It turns out Lucy is much more interested in my tree skirt (with jingle bell trim) than she is the tree.

Last night I found her curled up under the tree, sleeping on her new favorite tree skirt. I tried to get a photo, but she woke up and decided it was bath time instead.

I wish I could get a really good photo of her that captures just how darn cute she really is. My bf and I keep saying how ridiculously cute she is because of her sweet, snuggly personality. To think she was sitting at a shelter for so long--I'm glad we got her when we did. :-)

Sooooo Behind!

I am so behind on making my Christmas cards, as in, I haven't even started. So last night I made a little time in my craft room. I was not really happy with my first attempt, but my second was easy to duplicate, yet cute enough to share with friends and family. This is what I came up with.

Everything on the card is from Papertrey Ink, except for the star--I got that at Michael's. You can't really tell from the photo, but I used silver and gold paint pens to make tiny dots in the outer circles of the design. It gives it just a little added sparkle in real life.

I'd better get going on making some more of these. One down, lots more to go! Thanks for stopping by today.

I did it!

I finally took the plunge and bought my first ever set of Nestabilities. My local Hobby Lobby has started carrying them and I was able to use my 40% off coupon. I got the large scalloped squares for $14.99. They even had the tan embossing mats too. I was only able to try one square before I had to make dinner last night, but I think I'm in love. :-)

I can't wait to get more shapes and sizes. I see many trips to HL with 40% off coupons in my future. LOL

I hope everyone has a very happy Thanksgiving and gets to spend quality time with their family and friends.

Take care.

I'm still alive...

I can't believe this is only my second post for the month and November is almost over. I feel much better than I did before, but I still have a cough that I could really do without. I guess it could always be worse though. :-)

I found some very cute clear Christmas/Winter stamps at Wal-Mart for $2.97/each. I didn't buy them all, but I picked my favorite four sets.

Hopefully I'll have time to use them before Christmas gets here. Although I bought some very cute stamps from Gina K that have yet to see ink too. I need to get back in my craft room more often.

I do have one card to share. This was another challenge card from PTI. The challenge gallery can be found here. http://forum.papertreyink.com/forum/gallery2.php?g2_itemId=38915

I really enjoyed getting a chance to use my Quilter's Sampler set from PTI. It's definitely been neglected lately. I wasn't really sure where I was going with this card, but I think it all pulled together. It's a little more shimmery in person--the red bling in the center, the gold shimmer paper circle, and the liquid gold pen accents didn't photograph as well as I had hoped.

Thanks for stopping by today. Hopefully when things calm down I will have more to share. Until then, I hope you have a nice Thanksgiving filled with family and good times.

PTI Challenge Cards

I've been pretty quiet here for a few reasons: I've been sick with a sinus infection and cough for over 2 weeks, and Lucy has taken over my craft room making it pretty hard to get anything done in there when I do feel OK enough to try. Luckily I did have a few moments of peace this weekend to get caught up on my PTI weekly challenge cards.

First up is one I did based on a great sketch by Lynn. I modified it slightly, but still kept the main theme of geometric shapes. I used mostly PTI products on this card, but added a few patterned papers from Memory Box and some shiny stickers from my stash.



The next card is based on a sketch by Jen, who also did a video tutorial on how to line up your border punches to have even edges without trying to punch through the front and back at the same time. She did a great job on the video, but I still need a little work on the technique. I had a slight problem on the one side, but I still decided to finish this card.

I used all PTI products on this with the exception of a small gem and some Aqua Stickles. The stamps I used were from Snowfall, one of the 5 stamp sets that I won from a contest on Nichole Heady's blog!!!


Speaking of winning stamps on Nichole's blog, it made the whole thing even more special when Nicole included a hand made card in the box. I was stunned that she took the time from her crazy busy life to personally hand write a card to me. This photo doesn't do it justice as some of the details are lost, like the tiny paper piercing in the center of each flower and and the embossed "bee happy" sentiment in brown on brown. This is just one more reason why I am a true PTI addict, not that I needed any more reasons. :-)

I received Snowfall, Snowfall Additions, and Warm Happiness all designed by Heather Nichols. I love the look of her stamps and was more than happy to receive 3 sets!

I also won Melissa Bickford's new set called Men of Life that is being released this month at PTI. It's a great set for making cards for all of the men in your life--just as the name suggests.

Last, but not least I won a set designed by Candice that won't be released until the Summer of 2009 called Out to Sea. It has a nautical theme that will go very well with Melissa's set to expand your options for masculine cards.

I hope to get to use all of these sets soon and when I do I will be sure to update my blog. Hopefully it won't be so long next time. Thanks for stopping by today.

It must officially be Fall.....

...because I was inspired to bake my first ever apple pie. I'm not quite ready for making my pie crusts from scratch so I bought the refrigerated kind, but it turned out great. I opted for the crumb topping instead of the second crust and I think it was the right move. I had to take a picture quickly before my bf cut into it--he had been pacing around from start to finish, waiting impatiently for pie.


After a little pie a la mode, I attempted to work on this week's challenge card for PTI. My new kitty Lucy was a little better this time so it was a little easier than my last card. Kim provided us a sketch for a holiday themed card. I hadn't had a chance to play with my latest Papertrey goodies yet, so I incorporated them all into this.


Paper: Ripe Avacado, Ocean Tides, Linen Vellum (PTI), Frost (Memory Box)
Ink: Ripe Avacado, Ocean Tides, Dark Chocolate, silver paint pen
Stamps: Merry & Bright (PTI)

I just got Merry & Bright and the Additions set with this last order and I can't wait to try all of the different tree combinations. I think this is going to be my "go-to" Christmas set for a while with all of it's possibilities.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have a great weekend.

Birthday Wishes

I made a birthday card last night for a friend and my new kitty Lucy "helped" me every step of the way. It's a little crooked, but I consider it a miracle that I was able to finish and that I didn't accidently cut her little inky paws off. I'm definitely going to have make sure the coast is clear next time I pull out the leaf ribbon because it is a major kitten magnet. :-)

Paper: Lavender Moon, Ripe Avacado (PTI), Sprout patterned paper (Memory Box)

Ribbon: Plum Pudding, leaf ribbon (PTI)

Misc: Plum Pudding ink (PTI), Target $1 spot flower punch, bling (sold for cell phones)

Stamp: Stampendous

Thanks for stopping by today. Wish me luck with my next crafting adventure with Lucy. She's SO helpful--Let me tell you, it's a good thing she's so cute and fuzzy. :-)

Meet Lucy

On Saturday our Humane Society was having what can only be called a huge kitty sale. For one day only they reduced their adoption fees for cats and kittens to $19.95 (+$10 for rabies shots). This included all of their shots and the spaying/neutering. We got there early and there was already a line forming, but we were 4th so we could pretty much have our pick of the kitties.

Immediately I was drawn to the cage that had my new little sweetie in it. It took 2 hours of paperwork, background checks, and just waiting, but we now have a new family member, Lucy. She is 6 months old (approximately) and is the sweetest little ball of fur.

Right now we have to keep her separate from our other kitty to make sure she doesn't get her sick, and to slowly get them used to each other. My older kitty is not particularly happy right now, but she's handling it better than I expected. I think they're going to get along just fine after an adjustment period.

So Lucy is living in our spare bedroom which is my craft/computer room for now. She's obsessed with trying to catch the cursor on the computer screen when I move the mouse. It was very cute, but after the 100th time of saying "no" and putting her back on the floor, it got a little hard to use the computer. :-)

PTI Challenge Week 28

It was my turn to host the weekly challenge at PTI and I decided on a sketch challenge. Normally I work backwards and make the card first, then the sketch, but this time I did a sketch first. Of course I was distracted the entire time because it was new release time at Papertrey. It's hard to make a card when you're glued to the computer waiting to see the new stamps and to see if you've won any of the awsome contests. Needless to say at midnight I still had no card and so I came up with this one before crashing into my bed. :-)

Paper: Dark Chocolate, Kraft, Vintage Cream, Linen Vellum (PTI)
Ink: Dark Chocolate (PTI), Warm Red, Olive Pastel (Colorbox Fluid Chalk)
Stamps: Rustic Branches, Believe, Polka Dot Basics, Out on a Limb (PTI)
Misc: Leaf ribbon (PTI), red/green ribbon (Big Lots)

Thanks for stopping by today. And please feel free to check out Papertrey Ink's forum and look for new challenges every Wed. if you'd like to play along.

PTI Challenge Week 27

Lynn provided us with a great sketch this week and even though she admits that she didn't create it, I still enjoyed making this card. :-)

Paper: Kraft, Summer Sunrise, Vintage Cream (PTI)

Ink: Dark Chocolate, Summer Sunrise (PTI), VersaMark (clear embossed)

Stamps: Year Round Puns, First Fruits (PTI), tiny leaves from Stampendous

I should be back tomorrow with another card when I host the challenge. Thanks for stopping by today.

Baptism Card

I went to a baptism yesterday and when I went to make the card I realized much how I'm lacking in that department. I ended up using my only cross stamp that I found in $1 bin at Michael's last year. The photo is not the best since I finished the card up around midnight and photographed it then--it looks much prettier in person. I used PTI's Vintage Cream and Gold Shimmer papers and some sparkly stickers for the center of the cross.

I think I may have finally talked myself into getting the Everyday Blessings set from PTI that I have debated about for a while now. It would've come in pretty handy this weekend.

Halloween is in the air.....

Halloween will be here before we know it, and I've already got the decorations out. My bf likes to decorate for holidays almost as much as I do and he got me a few new things this year to add to my small collection. I love how my orange lampshade already matched the theme so I kept my lamp right where it normally is.

In this close up you can see my cute little spider and my favorite skeleton tea light holders. I'm all about the battery operated tea lights, especially inside of my ceramic decorations. They don't heat up as much and I don't have to worry about burning my house down if I forget to turn them off. As my close personal friend Martha would say "it's a good thing."

My favorite new decoration is this lantern that my bf picked out. He knows how hard I look for cute black cat decorations and how I don't have much luck in that department. He found this for me and it's perfect.

I've always had a soft spot for black cats--I was 4 when we got our first and I've had 3 more (including my current kitty) since then, but I've never been without one during the last 30 yrs. They have always been the sweetest pets to have around and my current kitty is no exception.

Of course, whenever I try to take her picture she ends up looking sort of scary. I tried to catch how cute she looked while taking a nap with my bf, but her eyes were glowing so badly that I ended up with this.

She looks a little creepy, but I thought it fit very well with my Halloween post for today.

Thanks for stopping by.

PTI Weekly Challenge

I was a day late with my PTI challenge card, but at least I still have another week to complete the next one. Last week, Kimberly provided this sketch:

I made a few adjustments to it, but I kept with the same general idea. I decided to use my PTI shimmer paper again since I had yet to break into the silver package.

Paper: Vintage Cream, Pure Poppy, Night Sky Shimmer, Silver Shimmer (all from PTI), Boxer from Basic Grey

Ink: Pure Poppy (PTI), Navy

Stamps: Snowflake Serenade (PTI)

Misc: Chipboard snowflake colored with Decco silver marker, chunky glitter, red crystal brad/bling

I was able to capture a little of the shimmer on the silver paper, but the blue is very pretty and shimmery in person as well. I didn't end up using traditional holiday colors on this at all, but I like it.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you like my non-traditional holiday card. If you want to know 7 random facts about me, or just have time to kill, be sure to read my last post . :-)

I've Been Tagged!

Beverly (http://preciousscraps.blogspot.com/2008/10/ive-been-tagged.html) tagged me to share 7 random things about myself. I don't always share a lot about myself online so I should be able to come up with 7 things pretty easily. :-) So here we go:

1. This first one is inspired by one of Beverly's answers. I was a cheerleader for 4 years, but during my second year I dislocated my hip doing the splits so I've never attempted them since. (I was also the only cheerleader I know who could not do a cartwheel.) LOL

2. I do not know how to swim and have a fear of water in many situations. I do not like getting water in my face and water that I cannot see through--like dirty lake water--especially freaks me out.

3. I am not a great bowler (think 103 average), but I love to go bowling. I once won my entire bowling league (and a big trophy) by beating out a bowler with a 200+ average. There were about 80 of us in the beginning and I was the only woman in the top 8. Somehow I made it to the end and I'm still not exactly sure how it happened, but I had the best night of bowling in my life. And I still have the trophy to prove it. :-)

4. I have been a horrible nail biter ever since I can remember. I did stop for the 4 years I was in High School, but then I started up again. I've had acrylic nails off and on since 1992, but removed them almost 3 months ago and have been biting like crazy again. I know it's a disgusting habit, but it is more like an obsession.

5. I've been coloring my hair since I was 12, when I started getting a gray streak in the same place that my Grandmother had one. I'm 34 yrs old and and at least 1/3 of my hair is no longer gray, but bright white now. When I was 24 a hairdresser told me that when I stopped coloring my hair I'd have a beautiful head of white hair. Thanks, but what 24-yr old wants to hear that?!

6. I am a cat person. Not that I don't love other animals, but in the whole dogs vs. cats battle, kitties will win me over every time. My cat now is such a sweet snuggle bunny that she's even won over my boyfriend who is a dog person at heart and severely allergic to cats.

7. I love music, all kinds of music. I have a 160 GB iPod with almost 12,000 songs on it (everything from rock to country to Irish drinking songs) and I have room for plenty more. :-)

I hope you enjoyed reading my 7 random facts. I should add an 8th one and admit that I am horrible about passing along these sorts of things. If I'm not back soon with my 7 people please feel free to play along on your own. LOL.

October B-days Continued

Last night I made my first (and second) attempt at paper piecing. I discovered a few things--you need really, really good scissors (like my Tim Holtz Tonic pair) and a little patience, but you can get some pretty sweet results.

My first card was for a 5 yr old so I wanted it to be colorful. I think I succeeded.

Paper: Vintage Cream, Sweet Blush (PTI), Basic Grey Sultry
Ink: Versafine Onyx, Cherry Pink
Stamps: $1.99 Archivers Hotspot Butterflies, Butterfly Kisses and Little Lady (PTI), My Sentiments Exactly


The second card is for my mother, but she doesn't read my blog so I can post it here. :-)

Paper: PTI White, DCWV Glitter Mat Stack, Basic Grey Sultry
Ink: Versafine Onyx, Cherry Pink
Stamps: Green Thumb, Birthday Basics (PTI) Scrappy Cat flowers

I popped a few of the flowers up on dimensionals to give them a little more interest.

I hope you enjoyed my cards today. Thanks for stopping by. :-)

Too Many October Birthdays!

Does it ever seem like everyone is having a birthday at the same time and you have no time to finish all of the cards you'd like to make? I was able to get two birthday cards completed in time this weekend, but I still have 3 more to make tonight so there should be another post coming soon.

First up is a card I made for my bf's twin sister.

Paper: Sweet Blush, Shimmer White (PTI), Basic Grey Sultry
Ink: VersaMark, Cherry Pink
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics, Birthday Basics (PTI)
Misc: $1 bin ribbon, bridal confetti flowers, pink gems



Next up is the card I made for my bf. I always find cards for men to be a challenge, but this one came together pretty quickly.

Paper: Kraft (PTI), Basic Grey Boxer
Ink: Navy, Olive Pastel
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics, Birthday Basics (both PTI), Sunny Dots (Hero Arts)
Misc: buttons, linen thread

I have to get to work on a few more cards later today so I hope to have more to share by tomorrow or the next day.

Thank you for stopping by today.