Papertrey City Scene

Finally got a few cards made. I love this Papertrey City Scene stamp set!

Cosmo Cricket Snorkel Thank You Cards

(make sure you scroll down, there are two cards in this post)

Today was the last day of swim lessons. I can't believe the summer is almost over! We started out with a two-week session and the instructors were so much fun, so relaxed and so accomodating that we stayed for the entire six-weeks. It was a great diversion while I was studying for the bar exam and my DD really learned so much. God bless lifeguards and anyone who works with children!

I made a couple thank you cards, and a batch of homemade brownies for the lifeguard staff at the pool using my Cosmo Cricket Snorkel paper. The large "Thanks" stamp is from Heidi Swapp, everything else (except the goggles/pti) are from Cosmo.

Have a WONDERFUL weekend! We are going to hit Busch Gardens and Disney World over the next few days, and just relax and have a few more fun days together until school start.

Papertrey Day at the Beach Flip-Flop Card

Here's another Papertrey Ink Day at the Beach card. This time I used all Stampin' Up! papers, including the new In Colors (Bermuda Breeze, Rich RazzleBerry, Crushed Curry) and kraft. Enjoy!

PAPERTREY INK: STAR PRINTS

This one has been sitting on my desk for a while, but I just haven't gotten around to finishing it and taking a photo of it. It's all Papertrey except for the Martha Stewart ribbon and Stampin' Up! kraft cardstock.

Happy Friday :)

PAPERTREY DAY AT THE BEACH

Ahhh summer. I have to enjoy it vicariously through my stamps since I'm too busy studying to do much else. Maybe we'll go to the beach for a couple hours next week, I'm feeling the need to get out of the house.

Anyway, isn't this cute? I was thinking of a really colorful beach towel when I made it. I stamped the background using the stripes from Let Freedom Ring and stamped it using colors from my Gaugin & Lautrec Palette Cubes (Paris Lights, Claret & Beaux Arts Blue). I used the same colors on the flip flops, then overstamped the thong using fresh snow and embossed with white embossing powder.

Recipe
Ink: Palette:Paris Lights, Claret & Beaux Arts Blue (Ellen Hutson)
Stamps: Let Freedom Ring, Day at the Beach (PTI)
Paper: Raspberry Fizz and Stampers Select White (PTI)
Accessories: Cosmo Cricket Snorkel green ribbon, unknown brad, white embossing powder

Happy (day after) Flag Day

RECIPE
Stamps: Let Freedom Ring & Text Style (Papertrey)
Ink: Pure Poppy Red & Fresh Snow (Papertrey), Blue (Palette), Tim Holtz Distress
Paper: White & Kraft cardstock (SU!)

GUIDELINES II: ENJOY LIFE

This is sort of a wacky color combination right? Summer sun, raspberry fizz, ripe avocado and dark chocolate are used with the Star Prints, Guidelines II & Text Style sets. The sentiment says "Enjoy Life"

Everything from Papertrey. Let's leave it at that!

So - go forth and ENJOY LIFE :)

Have a great week!

Take Time to Relax: Papertrey Ink Day at the Beach

This very simple card was inspired by some of Nichole Heady's creations posted during her Day at the Beach countdown. The card base is raspberry fizz, the flops are stamped with fresh snow, and then the little thong image is overstamped with with some berry sorbet. The box is outlined with a white gel pen. Simple! Not as cute as hers, but it's not too bad. I put some little Hero Arts gemstones on each flip-flop.

Happy Tuesday & thanks for stopping by.

Oh Happy Day Teacher Card

This card is similar to the School's Out card from a few days ago. It uses the same Cosmo Cricket Snorkel paper and Papertrey Day at the Beach stamp set.

I've finally found a nice place in my dining room stamp area to keep my sewing machine set up. I see this done on so many cards, and I love the look. It's very easy, just like sewing on paper. The only thing I have to remember is not to put adhesive where I think I might be sewing. The adhesive gums up the needle and the presser foot.

SUPPLIES
Paper: Pure Poppy & white cardstock (Papertrey), Snorkel patterned paper (Cosmo Cricket)
Ink: Versafine Plumeria, Palette Claret, Papertrey Fresh Snow, Tim Holtz Tea Dye & Broken China Distress
Accessories: Spellbinders Nestabilities, Cosmo Cricket Snorkel ribbon, brads, sewing machine

School's Out! Teacher Card

How's this for a teacher thank you card? LOL. I know that not all teachers would really appreciate this one (I know I wouldn't - I haven't had a bikini bod in a veeerrrry long time), but the teacher I have in mind will probably like it.

The supplies should all look familiar. The stamps are from Papertrey Ink's "Day at the Beach" set, and the patterned paper is Cosmo Cricket Snorkel. I also used some Snorkel ribbon, a Cuttlebug embossing folder and a few other miscellaneous items.

Speaking of my stamp set, I lost one of my flip flops! Ahhhhhh! It's the polka dot flip flop. It's so cute and it's my favorite of all the stamps. I've looked everywhere. Such a bummer. That's one problem with these little clear stamps, they are very easy to lose and super hard to fine. Please cross your fingers that I find it!

SUPPLIES
Paper: Cosmo Cricket Snorkel, Stampin' Up! Baja Breeze & Tangerine Tango, White (Papertrey)
Ink: Pure Poppy (Papertrey)
Accessories: Spellbinders Oval Nestabilities & Double-ended tag, brads, sewing machine, ribbon (Cosmo Cricket)

The Joys of Summer

Another teacher card. I don't have much to share today so I'll just leave you with a picture of the card. All supplies are from Papertrey, except Prismacolor pencils and white EP.

Papertrey Beach Teacher Card

I struggled with what to make for teacher cards for several weeks. I contemplated several school-themed sets, but when I saw the new Papertrey Ink Day at the Beach set I knew it would be perfect. We live near the beach, and I know how much the teachers look forward to summer. The sentiments in this set are just perfect. This card is one of many I've been working on for teachers. This particular one will be given to a music teacher.

The flip flips and paper choice (Cosmo Cricket Snorkel) were inspired by Debbie Olson. Thanks Debbie! :) The inks were simply sponged onto the white rectangle.

Thanks for looking.

RECIPE
Paper: Cosmo Cricket Snorkel, Papertrey Ink White and Pure Poppy, Stampin' Up! Tangerine Tango
Stamps: Papertrey Ink Day at the Beach
Accessories: Cosmo Cricket Snorkel Lime Green twill, Spellbinders double-ended tag trio, Stampin' Up! scallop-edge border punch, green brads, pure poppy ink.
Accessories:

Papertrey Ink Guidelines II

For my birthday a couple months ago I received a Papertrey gift certificate. I finally used it this month to get some new stamp sets and to restock my paper stash a little. I've been out of white cardstock for a while if you can believe it!

The background was stamped using Guidelines II, a fun and versatile set. The colors are summer sunrise, berry sorbet and palette landscape green.

Thanks for looking!

Dawn's Color Challenge

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today's card was inspired by this color combination done by Dawn McVey. This is the last of the challenges over at Papertrey Ink, and tonight is the release party and the end of the Papertrey Anniversary Celebration.

I chose yellow & black, colors I don't use very often. But I liked the way it came out! It's classy in a very retro sort-of-way, IMO.

Recipe:
Stamps: Scallop Tile Background (Cornish Heritage Farm), Frame & Sentiment (Unknown)
Paper: Bazzill
Accessories: Black ribbon, white embossing powder, dimensional dots

Papertrey Friend Card Challenges

Yesterday we had a day off from challenges, and Nichole announced the release of buttons

on her blog. I don't use a lot of buttons because they're usually so spendy, but these are very economical. I can see adding a pack or two of these to my next order. :)

Today's challenge was to make a card for your best friend. Since we've moved so many times in the past few years I don't have a "best" friend - but many good, close friends that have been along with me for the various stages in my life. My friend Jenny and I became very close in law school, because we're both very crafty and managed to survive those three years without getting sucked into the high school-like drama (yes, really - law school isn't much better than high school, sigh).

She's also a scientist and loves frogs, so I frequently seek out frog-themed stamps. Oddly enough, I've been using Pond Life all week, so I brought it out again in order to use the frog.

I hope she likes it!

Aimee

Recipe:
Stamp: Pond Life (Papertrey)
Paper: Cardstock (Papertrey), Heather Bailey Patterned Paper
Ink: Berry Blossoms (Papertrey)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Crystal Brads

Papertrey Sketch Puzzle Challenge

Like a fool I uploaded my PTI Card Challenge today without a related post. Sorry about that! I guess it's fairly self-explanatory. Not terribly exciting, but it was quick. I had my Pond Life set still in the mess craft area, so I just used it again along with scraps of the Cosmo Cricket paper.

Papertrey Over the Rainbow Color Challenge

This is my entry for PTI's Rainbow Color Challenge. I was channeling Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar when I made this card. I used the Pond Life set and my Pure Poppy and Summer Sunrise Inks. I had to substitute Old Olive (Stampin' Up!) and Baja Breeze (Stampin' Up!) for the ripe avocado and ocean tides colors.

This was fun because it was just one stamp and inks, very colorful!

Thanks everyone for visiting!

Aimee

Papertrey Bag Challenge

Today is Day 5 of Papertrey Ink's Anniversary previews and challenges. And the best news is that PTI is going to be in Orlando for the CHA consumer show. Y'all KNOW how much I dig CHA and I'm super excited to meet my very favorite bloggers, Nichole, Michelle and Debbie (seriously, I'm in debt because of those three). I've already made my hotel reservations for Orlando, oh yea!

Today's contest involves creating or altering a bag. I really wanted to use fabric, I love making totes, but all my sewing supplies are still in Indiana (bwah!). Instead, I used paper and accessories to create a fully constructed bag using the same sewing techniques that I use in my totes. I have seams, lining and "lace" trim.

I'm going to keep this and give it to my Mom for mother's day. I also made a little brag book using the Top Note die (Stampin' Up!). Cosmo Cricket paper was layered on top of some Tim Holtz grungeboard (which cuts like buttah in the Big Shot). I simply hole punched the corner of the brag book, added some ribbon, and voila! It fit perfectly inside my little purse.
Enjoy!
Aimee

Recipe:
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics, Pond Life (PTI)
Paper: Sweet Blush (PTI), Vintage Cream (PTI), Cosmo Cricket (patterned paper)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Hole Punch, Berry Sorbet Ink (PTI), Versamark, Crystal Brad (Making Memories), Ribbon, White Embossing Powder, Martha Stewart Doily Edge Punch

Papertrey Ink Ponk Life Swap

I finally finished my PTI swap cards for SCS today. Swaps can be fun, especially when you receive them and see what cute things other stampers have created. But I always feel so much pressure to make some nice, that I think, and think, and think to come up with something cute. Too much thinking!

This is what I've come with. I ended up making a Mother's Day card, although according to my own mother, she can't see the connection between the lily pads and Mother's Day. I asked her just to go with it! I used the Papertrey Ink Pond Life set, along with my nestabilities ribbon tag dies and some retired Stampin' Up! DSP (Haiku).

Recipe
Paper: Stampin' Up! Haiku, Baja Breeze Cardstock, Certainly Celery Cardstock
Ink: Variety of PTI palette inks
Accessories: Martha Stewart Ribbon, White Gel Pen, Prismacolor Pencil, Nestabilities Ribbon Tag Die, Making Memories Crystal Brads

Home for the Holidays

Is this my first Christmas card post? Seriously folks, I'm so far behind. I'm happy and blessed to be working full-time, but I'm so exhausted at night I just haven't had much energy to be crafty.

However, I have found a new time to get stuff done. I have an hour lunch break and so earlier this week I took my Revolution and some paper and did some die-cutting in my car during my lunch hour. Isn't that sad? I eat lunch in the car! I'm learning to embrace the quiet, but I have to keep my radio off because it drains the battery. I had to have somebody jump-start me today! Anyway, the Revolution is PERFECT for car die-cutting. I'm going to leave in my trunk. It's small enough that I can hold it, but it has a nice magnetic base so my nesties don't slide around. Awesome.

This is one of my Christmas cards this year. I'll probably only get out 10 or so of these because of the amount of time it takes to make each one. I cut out the red scallops and vanilla squares during my lunch break :)

Recipe:
Stamps: Papertrey Ink Boards & Beams, Papertrey Ink Home for the Holidays, Papertrey Ink Silent Night
Paper: PTI Vintage Cream, PTI Pure Poppy, Kraft, Cosmo Cricket, Basic Grey Wassail
Ink: PTI Pure Poppy, Distress Tea Dye, Stampin' Up! Black, Palette green (doesn't matter what shades you use really)
Ribbon: Martha Stewart Red Seam Binding
Accessories: Tim Holtz Distress Stickles, MS Snowflake Punch, Gold brads, Markers, Nestabilities square, scallop square, and tag die, Ranger Glossy Accents