A birthday tag...

Just wanted to post this cute tag, made with the PTI Free stamping set for December. I wasn't able to order in December, but a very generous forum member gifted this cute set to me!! My daughter made a birthday gift for her niece, and I made this tag to go along with it. 

Just Some Cards....

Just wanted to post a few cards I have made over the last few months.There are also a few embroidered items shown as well.

This card was  inspired by Melissa Phillips of lilybeanpaperie. The Birds are from PTI Brushed Birds stamp set; the floral background is a stamp from Especially You, also by PTI. Stamped sentiment is from Penned Elegance.

I purchased and printed the lavender graphics. The sentiment is a stamp from the PTI Penned Elegance Stamp Set. Card is a PTI die.

I used stamps and dies from Concord & Ninth for the cake and sentiment. The base die is PTI's Shape Shifters Square 2.

A couple of cards for two of my grandsons who will start kindergarten next week! I packaged them with a set of nice thick automatic lead pencils. The die cut square frame is a piece of the PTI Shape Shifters Square 2. Schoolhouse and sentiment are also PTI...Petite Places: School.

A couple of embroidered towels for a bridal shower gift.

And this card actually has designs by the same designer of the embroidered towel shown above. The die cut is from a PTI die..can't think of the name offhand!

A Father's Day card using PTI's Dapper Chap.

An embroidered muslin swaddle blanket by Lou Lou Lollipop. Embroidered Cross Design by Zundt Design. The card used the Phrases & Praises stamp set from PTI; the tiny cross was an older stamp from Archivers years ago, and the baby in christening gown is a digital stamp purchased from liliofthevalley.uk

I actually purchased the fabric for this swaddle blanket and made (hemmed) the blanket. Then I embroidered the name and baby feet on it, and attached a card. Card designs are made from PTI's Make it Market Kit called Wee Folk.

These tiny cards were also inspired by Melissa Phillips of lilibeanpaperie. She has a great style, and I love her work. I didn't have the same sentiments nor background stamps that she used, but I like how they turned out.

This was for my nephew's 5th birthday, so I thought the 5 candle diecut/stamp would be perfect. The candles and sentiment are from Concord & Ninth. The circle diecut is PTI's Shape Shifters: Circle 1.

And this card was for a granddaughter who broke her wrist earlier this summer. Also from PTI called Splits: Get Well Soon.

PTI Orchid Expressions Stamp Set and dies. The background square is from the set of Shape Shifters: Square 2.

Corners are diecuts using the PTI Corner Adorners dies  and they are stamped with Fine Linen ink. The paper is from the chicken scratch pad (PTI); The bride/groom stamp is an older one from Stampendous.

OK, so that is a little bit of what I have been up to. I hope to do a post soon on a new venture...a business with my daughter, Megan. We are offering some embroidered items, heat printing and heat press. You can check out our instagram here

and our website here

PTI Make It Monday Challenge

Stephanie Gold made a very pretty card in her Make It Monday video seen here. The challenge was to create a project using outline images to accent the project.

I chose to use the Especially Yours set of outline images by Papertrey Ink. The colored florals beneath the outlines were stamped first, using the Hope set by Concord & 9th. Sentiment was from Especially Yours. Colors used were Tropical Teal, Lilac Grace and Limeade Ice. Black Ink is Versafine Onyx Black. I like that even though this is a one layer card, it still feels like it has dimension.

Papertrey Ink 11th Anniversary, Day 5 Challenge

So....the challenge for Day 5 was to create a card using one of the sets that is going to be retired. One of my most used sets has always been Vintage Picnic. So that is the set I selected for this card. I wanted something spring-y.....to offset the frigid central Illinois weather. The Mix & Mat confetti die was used to cut the piece from the chicken scratch paper. 

Papertrey Ink Anniversary Sketch Challenge

Today's Papertrey Ink 11th Anniversary blog post showcased the design team, and provided sketches for the cards that each designer made. The challenge was to select a sketch and come up with a card. I chose to use the sketch that Heather Nichols provided:

I really like the Brushed Birds set and the Birthday Balloons set, so those are the sets I used for my card. I had to sketch a little branch for the bird to perch on. It got dark quickly today with the approaching snow, so my photos aren't the best! It was a fun challenge.

Anniversary Card

I made this card rather quickly, and used a card made by Stephanie Gold for inspiration. The stamp, paper and diecuts are from the mini kit by Papertrey Ink, Lovely Lace. 

Gifts for Co-Workers

I embroidered these dishtowels using a cocktail design by AnitaGoodesign, in the set On The Beach. Each recipient will receive a towel with that design and with her name. The tags were from the Papertrey Ink set, Gran's Garden. I stamped the base in Distress Ink Spun Sugar, then added the next layer with PTI Hibiscus Burst. The centers were PTI Harvest Gold, and I added a few black dots with a pen. 

A couple of Easter cards

Loving the new So Sweet stamp set by Papertrey Ink. Three-year-old Erin loved it, too, and made a card for her mom.

Papertrey Ink Packaging challenge

Part of the Papertrey Ink's anniversary celebration includes challenges. I decided to participate in the Packaging Challenge. 

I had about 20 minutes to embroider a dishtowel and package it up to gift to a friend. Luckily I have a commercial embroidery machine, so I set the file up, hooped my towel and put it on the machine to stitch out my friend's name. (The towel was a Threshold flour sack towel from Target, which had a 2017 calendar on it as well as a graphic print that matched well to the succulents on the tag). Then I quickly made a tag. I used the PTI Succulents Paper pack. I trimmed off the edge of a large graphic piece, and stamped Enjoy, Friend onto the tag, using Bitty Bouquet stamp set. I rolled and tied the embroidered towel, and put it into a cellophane bag, and tied the tag onto the bag. Fast and simple. I package almost all my stuff in cellophane bags for gift-giving. 

Baby Gifts

My niece is having twins. For her baby shower, I made burp cloths from the Moda line of fabric called Farm Fun. This is the fabric that she is using to decorate the nursery with its farm theme. The fabric line also has a panel of farm animals with pockets that hold 2 babies...so I thought that was perfect for the twins! The embroidered farm animals are from the Anita Goodesign farm set. I also included a dozen or so flannel burp cloths...can never have too many of those! 

Baby Shower for Twins

There is a baby shower this Sunday for my niece and her twins who are due in April. These are the cards that myself and my daughters will be giving to her. 

I have always loved the On The Farm Set. And the theme that my niece chose for her twins' nursery is "farm"...so I thought that these would be very appropriate cards to put with the shower gift! I was very happy with how they turned out. 

December Baby Shower Gifts

I made some cute burp cloths for a recent baby shower, and now I am once again sewing burp cloths for a baby shower for twins next month. The cloths are sporting some labels I had made...I got the idea from the madeeveryday.com blog. The embroidered elephant is a design from Strawberry Stitch. Fabrics are the Riley Blake Vintage Daydream line. Flannels for the shaped burp cloths were ordered from fabric.com.

Papertrey Ink, Create Along With Us, September

There sure were a lot of wonderful new stamps and dies this month from Papertrey Ink. I especially loved What the Doodle: Ornament, and the Christmas Faith Stamps and dies. My order is on its way and I can't wait to dive into some fun new stuff. This card by Heather Nichols appealed to me because of the use of a watercolored background, and I just love the dove stamp and die.

I had not previously done the emboss resist, so this was a new technique to try. My dove stamp was cut out of fun foam (a Sizzix die cut that I scaled down) which I stamped in the Versamark Ink and then heat embossed with PTI white powder. The sentiment is from PTI Warmest Wishes. After the white embossing dried, I watercolored with Spring Moss and Simply Chartreuse, and some olive watercolor paint. I didn't wait long enough for that to all dry, and so when I stamped the stars, they kind of ran a bit. The stars were from Scene It: Celebration. The olive branch is from Tinsel & Tags: Sprigs. I used the PTI Ric Rac die to do the edge, and then adhered it to a Kraft card base, tying the side with the PTI twine.  I couldn't resist adding some black pen at the tail feathers. Not sure I should have done that! Here is how mine turned out:

Papertrey Ink Create Along With Us, August

I am participating in the Create With Us challenge issued by Papertrey Ink this month. A card that really struck me as having perfect colors and composition was this card by Amy Sheffer.

My card doesn't look quite so blah in real life...It was a dark and rainy day today, and photographic conditions were not so good!

I love the Twig Wreath set that Amy used, but do not have it yet. Instead, I used a jar lid to create the base of my wreath. I just rubbed the ink cubes on the rim of the lid in various greens and "stamped" and twisted to form the basic wreath shape. Then I used a black pigma pen to draw in some little leaves. My pumpkin basket is the PTI Vintage Picnic Stamp set from a number of years ago. I diecut the basket, stamped with the new Cocoa Bean and popped it up; the pumkins are stamped directly to the watercolor panel and painted with watercolors. The sentiment is made with the Scripted Die, using silver cardstock. A little piece of blue chickenscratch paper is on top.