Valentines for my grandchildren

Hello! I wanted to share the Valentines I made for my grandchildren today. I am also entering them in the Special Delivery contest at Papertrey. We were to "go all out" and design and card and matching ennvelope that would not have to be mailed, but hand delivered. I got the idea and directions for these valentines on Marybeth's blog here. I just LOVED her card with shamrocks, and I thought these would make great Valentines for my grandkids. They took alot of work though. Here is the envelope I made for each of the cards, but in colors that matched the cards (blue for Will's, pink for Chloe's and this purple one for Sohpie's.

I started with my grandson Will's card. I tried not to make it too girly - it's more geared to blues. I chose to use cut files from Lettering Delights for the little Scotty dogs. The name of the collection is "Great Scott It's Love". You can find it here. I used some of the Tremendous Treats stamps on some of the panels, as well as my Wonderful Words "Love" die. I've used the heck out of that die lately!

 Front of the card. I cut the sentiment out on my Silhouette Cameo. Doggie is cut and paper pieced using SIlhouette. Hearts are PTI diecuts cut out of American Crafts POW glitter paper (love that stuff!).

 One of the back panels. Love die and hearts diecuts from PTI.

 When you open up the card and stand it up, here's what you see. I did a print and cut of the little doggies here because they were so small. Stitched heart on back panel is PTI with sentiment from TT:Valentine.

 Here you can see the other panels that flap open when you stand it up. The heart, circle and Love die are PTI.

 From the side.

Next up is my two granddaughter's cards - very similar to Will's, but Chloe's is pink, Sophie's is purple, and I used different cut files - pink one is from different owls I've collected from the Silhouette store, and the purple one uses the Lettering Delights "Hello There" collection.

 Front of Sophie's card. Sweetheart sentiment from Silhouette store, "You make my heart smile" is from PTI Framed Out series. Rest from LD "Hello There" collection.

 Stitched heart from PTI.

 Deer is cut and paper pieced using my Silhouette.

 View of the inside. Again, several different die cuts and sentiments from PTI on the flaps.

 View from the side.

 This is Chloe's card front. She loves owls.

 Word block from Silhouette store.

 Inside of card. Lots of owls and PTI on the flaps again.

From the side.

And lastly, a card for my 11 year old grandson. I thought he would like something a little less childish, so I made him a basketball card, since he is a great basketball player!

 Front of card. Basketball and hoop from Silhouette store and cut on my Silhouette. Banner from PTI Banner Day set, and letters from Simple Alphabet. I used some orange paper with raised polka dots on the basketball for a neat texture.

 I left the bottom of the net free.

This banner is from W Plus 9 - Written on Ribbon set. Sentiment written by me.

Hope you've enjoyed all my creations! Thanks so much to Marybeth for her inspiration and the links to the tutorials to make the pop-up cards.

Papertrey 2014 Anniversary Building Blocks Challenge

Hello! Today, over on Nicole heady's blog here, she introduced a very neat stamp set based upon individual lines of a sentiment and breaking them down into "building blocks". This looks like a very useful set with matching dies! The anniversary contest today was all about going to each Design Team member's blog and rolling a dice (I used a Random Number Generator app on my phone), to "be assigned" one of nine different design elements to use on your card. here are the items I was given to work with:
Ashley's blog: Harvest Gold
Betsy's blog - Raspberry Fizz
Christina's blog - Aqua Mist
Danielle's blog - Classic Kraft
Dawn's blog - this sketch

Erin's blog - a Friends card
Heather's blog - Heat embossing
Laura's blog - felt
Melissa's blog - Embroidery floss





And here is the card I came up with:
I used the Lovely layers stamp set with all my elements.

 

The sentiment is a little hard to see - it is in Aqua Mist. And the embroidery floss is the french knows on the flower center. Thanks for looking!

Papertrey 2104 Anniversary Contest - Word Focal Point challenge

Hello! I am beginning to lose track of what day of the Papertrey anniversary it is! There have been so many new products sneaked and announced already that I have to admit, I am a bit overwhelmed! Today's challenge is all about using words as a focal point on our card. You can read more about it here on Nichole's blog. I chose to work with the Wonderful Words: Love die. Seems like I've had that aout alot in the last couple weeks. I've been making the coolest valentines for my grandchildren, which I will be sharing in the next couple days.
I created two cards for today's challenge. The first one used patterned paper form the Sweet Fairy paper pad from Prima, and the Love die cut in ombre shades.

 The second card is a shaker card made with the Fabulous Frames large die and the Love diecut. I also used one of the sentiment images from Love & Marriage in the background. I think maybe I put too many hearts in the shaker because they don't move around very easily. Oh well!

Hope you are enjoying all the anniversary goings on! Can't wait to see what's next!

Papertrey 2014 Anniversary Challenge Birthday card

Hello! Another challenge over on Nicole Heady's blog here. Our challenge was to make Papertrey a birthday card, and then to photograph ourselves with the card. She encouraged us to actually mail the card to Papertrey so the people in the warehouse can make a collage of all the cards to enjoy each day. I think this is a wonderful idea! It would be fun for them to see what we do with the supplies they pack up each day - and to see that what they do helps us to make a difference in other people's lives. Thank you Papertrey Ink! You have brought me much joy and helped me spread that joy to others through my handmade cards! HAPPY HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY!

 I used Aqua Mist and white cardstock, and Aqua Mist patterned paper, as well as the Wonderful Words: Birthday die and stamp set, and then cut out "Papertrey Ink" from one of my stamp sets packaging. There are 7 rhinestones for seven years Papertrey has been in business.

Many wishes for many many more happy Papertrey years! Susan

Papertrey Ink 2014 Anniversary Challenge - Day Three 7 minute challenge

Hello! So the fun over at Papertrey continues with their anniversary contests. Today's contest is a 7 minute challenge. You have 7 minutes to gather 7 items to make a card, then 17 minutes to make the card. You can read more about it over on Nicole's blog here. They are giving away 7 $70 gift certificates from the entries. They use a random gererator - which I usually never win, but who knows... this might just be the time. :)

Here are my two entries:

 I'm not real crazy about this first one. It's a little too artsy for my taste. It only took me a couple minutes to gather my supplies:
White, Raspberry Fizz, melon Berry, Hibiscus Burst, Sweet Blush cardstocks
The Wonderful Words LOVE die
and a pink chalk ink pad to edge it with and do the swirlies.
This card took about 9 minutes.

Now this card I like a whole lot better. The feathers embossed very well - I love the detail. I didn't know how detailed the Zing embossing powder would do, but I was pleased.

It took me about 5 minutes to gather my supplies:
Black and white cardstock
Lavender and Blush Zing Embossing powder
Versamark Ink
Feather Finery stamp set
Heat tool
It took me 12 minutes to complete this card (including embossing 3 times!)
What a fun challenge!

Papertrey Ink 2014 Anniversary Challenge Day 1 - Card 3

Hello! I am entering this card in the Day One challenge on Nicole's blog here. This challenge is all about using a color combo and sketch from the list on Nicole's blog. I chose this color combo and this sketch for my third card.



Here is my third card:

 I'm not at all crazy about this card - the colors just seem to clash. I wanted to use the new Life's Music set on this card and then got kind of stuck trying to make it all work. The notes are Raspberry Fizz and the birds are Scarlett Jewell although the photo makes them look awful. A yellow branch??? Good grief!

Papertrey Ink 2014 Anniversary Challenge Day 1 - Card 2

Hello! I am entering this card in the Day One challenge on Nicole's blog here. This challenge is all about using a color combo and sketch from the list on Nicole's blog. I chose this color combo and this sketch for my second card.


And here is my second card. A great way to use your washi tape!

 Hope you enjoy! have a great day!

Papertrey Ink 2014 Anniversary Challenge Day 1 - Card 1

Hello! I am entering this card in the Day One challenge on Nicole's blog here. This challenge is all about using a color combo and sketch from the list on Nicole's blog. I chose this color combo and this sketch for my first card.

Here is my card:

 Hope you have a great day!

Papertrey 2014 Anniversary Day Two Contest - Card Three

Hello again! Here is my third card for the PTI anniversary contest for Day Two. We were to use one of the images designed by a member of the PTI design team that was provided on a free download on Nicole's blog here. This time I used Betsy Veldman's image - a beautiful Thank You sentiment. I used a white card base, some Aqua Mist striped patterned paper, and Aqua Mist Mat Stack 1 and some aqua mist ribbon, plus Betsy's image. I added a few rhinestones just for some sparkle. Hope you enjoy!

Papertrey 2014 Anniversary party - Day Two contest

Hello! I am participating in the Day Two festivities over at Papertrey Ink. They are celebrating their 7th Anniversary this month! Today's challenge was based on a free download over on Nicole's blog here. Each stamp designer contributed an image and the challenge was to use one of the images on a card. This is my second card I made for the challenge. I used Lexi Daly's "You Rock" image for a tag I made. I thought the tag would be really cute on a bridal shower gift.  I used a Tag Sale #3 die for the tag, then stamped the polka dots from Polka Dot Basics II. I layered some POW glitter paper strips from American Crafts underneath Lexi's little sentiment.

The first card I made used Heather's 3 x 4 "I just love you" card. I rounded the edges of the card and slipped it into a small glassine bag and threw some punched hearts in for good measure. I mounted the envelope onto the front of a white card base with Raspberry Fizz patterned paper.

Thank you PTI designers for the great images in the downloads! What fun these anniversary festivities have been! But they keep you busy! Have a great day!

Papertrey Make-It-Monday #151 - Drop Shadow Die Cuts

Hello! I am participating in this week's Make-It-Monday over at Papertrey. This week Betsy Veldman showed us how to die cut a second die cut to layer underneath the first to create a drop shadow effect. You can read all about it here.

This is the card Betsy did for the video:
I decided to try this out using a coverplate. I used the Triangle coverplate and cut it once with Hibiscus Burst and then again with Raspberry Fizz. I adhered the RF diecut first onto a white cardstock base, then adhered the HB diecut at a little to the right, to allow the RF layer to pop out. I really like the way this gives the coverplate dimension! I also cut out the Wonderful Words LOVE diecut, once from white cardstock and three times from RF cardstock. I layered these together directly on top of each other to give it depth. I liked the way Christina did it here.  Finally, I added a little bit of lace to the top edge. See what you think:

Thanks for looking! This was a fun technique!

A Party for a Princess

Hello!
I wanted to share some pictures (ok, ALOT of pictures) from my granddaughter's 1st birthday party. My daughter is very creative (and loves Pinterest), and decided to do a winter themed party for her daughter Sophie. She decided to have a Hot Cocoa Bar, a Smore Bar, and other platters of appetizers. The party was from 1:30-4:00pm. so we figured we didn't need to do a full lunch menu. One of the things I love, is that Katie involves me in her party planning. It gives me a chance to use the TONS of paper resources I have, and to feel a part of the festivities.

Hot Cocoa Bar

I gave Katie a recipe for a hot cocoa mix that I had used to send care packages to the kids when they were in college. It consists of varying amounts of powdered sugar, non-dairy creamer, cocoa, malted milk and powdered milk. We mixed up a huge batch, and set some aside for the party and put 2 servings in little half-pint jars for party favors. We also added extra chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, and a chocolate dipped spoon to the party favor. The hot cocoa turned out wonderful. Everyone said it was the best cocoa they ever tasted. I made homemade peppermint marshmallows, and chocolate dipped spoons and we had chocolate chips to add to your cup of cocoa. Here are some pictures of it.

 The half-pint jar with 2 servings of the mix, extra chocolate chips and mini marshmallows, plus a chocolate dipped peppermint spoon to stir it with.
 These were the tags I created and printed and cut using my Silhouette, which were attached to the jars.

Yum! Homemade peppermint marshmallows! They were sooo good!









The cocoa cups with sleeves, adorned with little circle tags that said "one".

And the toppings for the cups of cocoa.

These are all the little jars lined up on the counter ready to hand out to each family.

Smore Bar

We had little clay pots (which Katie painted) out on Katie's kitchen counter, that had Sterno cans in them. These were lit (with LOTS of adult supervision), and then marshmallows (we used store bought ones for these) were roasted to perfection, then sandwiched in between two graham cracker halves and a chocolate bar. Classic yummy goodness!

 Label for the Smore bar above, the marshmallows on a silver platter (actually from the dollar store!)

 The graham crackers on another expensive platter :)

 And the infamous Hershey bars (what would a smore be like without them?). There were also sticks to roast the marshmallows on.

The flower pot and the sterno can to roast the marshmallows. These sterno cans are made for doing this kind of thing - safe for indoors.

A picture of the roasting. That's my daughter Katie on the right in the blue. What a good mom she is!

Other snacks and table decorations

 Purple and white were the party colors.

 Fruit cups for the kids

 Chocolate covered pretzels and star candy.

 Water and sparkling beverages.
 

 Katie purchased the cake pops. These turned out awesome! They matched the party colors and even added a sparkle. Very pretty! There were also several platters from Chilck-Fila to munch on.

 Party Banner and Hat

Here are some pictures of the banner and party hat I made Sophie. I did a post on the Princess book I made her here.

 The party hat. Try keeping a hat with an elastic band on a one year old for more than one minute!

 Sophie's banner - designed and cut on my Silhouette. Each letter has chunky white glitter on it. Vellum snowflakes behind each letter. I think Katie is going to hang this in her room now.

 A Happy Birthday banner for the entrance way. Also designed and cut on my Silhouette.

 Sophie's smash cake - BEFORE

 DURING

AND AFTER! She really got into it - you should have seen her squishing her fingers in it!

Wow! That was alot of pictures! Thanks for sticking with me to the end of this post! It was a great party and worth every minute we spent preparing for it. There were about 50 people (adults and kids) at the party and everyone had a great time.