Mojo Monday - Challenge #240

Here is a Mother's Day card that I made using the sketch over at Mojo Monday. The sketch looks like this:

I just couldn't help making my mom this card. I already had my Crate Paper out (if you read my previous post) and just thought this looked so cheery together. My mom's birthday is the first day of summer and so I thought she'd like this card that is very summer-y.

I used the white doily as the large circle in the sketch and the word "HAPPY" as the strip on the side. The phrase comes from the pretty peonies stamp set that PTI released as its anniversary set. I also just love the Strawberry Patch PTI set that Mish came up with. Don't you? The tiny tag (PTI) says "much love".

I am so excited because I will be picking up my parents at the airport tomorrow. I get to spend Mother's Day with my mom this year and it has me overjoyed. It's been a while since we last visited and I am really looking forward to our late night chats and the silly giggles we get. When we get together we play lots of cards, make crafts, go shopping and enjoy each other's company. I cherish the time we have!

Gotta go. By for now!

Anyone else love Gingham?

Okay, I know that I have post-arrhea right now. Sorry about so many posts in one day. You see, my mom is coming to visit for a week and I have lots of things to do before she gets here. And before Mother's Day weekend is in full swing I wanted to finish up a couple of challenges.

I don't know what it is about Gingham but it is one pattern that I just simply LOVE! I like Chevrons, Damasks, Polka Dots... but Gingham represents a warmth and coziness like my Grandma's house did when I was a kid. Maybe it is the fun memories of picnics, or being at the beach or just the homespun feel of it... I just love it. So when I heard that there was a challenge over at Moxie Fab World dedicated to my favorite print I just had to play along!

This thank you style card is made a little shabby and has lots of vintage summer goodness. Again, I had that picnic image in my mind and I couldn't wait to pick up my stash of Crate Paper. And, of course, summer means strawberries! So they needed a starring role in this affair as well. I used PTI's Strawberry Patch Stamps and dies as well as Perfect Patches dies. The sentiment is from the coordinating stamp set that goes along with Strawberry Patch (though I can't seem to think of the name of it off hand). I used some lace, some crinkle ribbon, some distress ink and lots of stitching to give this the look that makes my heart go pitter patter. :D

I will be putting this up in my etsy shop as soon as I can part with it. For now, though, it has a cozy spot on my desk.

Celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week

Hi there! I wanted to share with you one of the things that I am doing for Teacher Appreciation Week (TAW) because if you are like me you are on the look out for new ideas that you can save for later. I love my children's teachers dearly and look forward to showing them my thanks whenever possible!

Here are a few shots of some of the things that I will be giving them. I am making a gift basket filled with fragrant flowery toilette items to pamper them. I am using a vintage garden theme and filling their baskets with handmade soaps, bath salts, lotions and body butter. I am going to assemble it in a strawberry basket (by using PTI's new die) and take more pictures; but this is what I have to show you so far.

 This card that I made uses some of my most favorite elements. The paper is from Pink Paisley and is just sooooo lovely with its aged papers and floral goodness. I just swoon with its beautiful images. I cut out this cute little garden fairy to use as a focal point on my seed packet. I also used the new PTI Garden Variety Stamp set along with the original one; so many delightful sentiments to choose from. I feel that it goes well with my gardening theme. Each teacher plants so many "seeds" of kindness, love and life lessons into my children's hearts during the school year. I used a PTI tiny tag to stamp "Blossom" because that is what they help my kids to do while under their care.

I also love it when I can play along with a card challenge and found the one over at CR84FN fits perfectly with my theme. Here is there color challenge in case you'd like to play along:

I also made the covers for these cute little notepads for them. They match all of the other stuff that I will be putting in their basket... and what teacher has too many notepads?! :)

That's it for now. I'm assembling the rest of the goodies in a bit and will take more pictures. Take care!

CardPatterns: Sketch 164

I absolutely ADORE the images on Melissa's blog LilyBean Paperie. She makes vintage goodness look so easy. I really have been wanting to try this style and while I know I am not even in the same league as her, I hope my vintage love shines through in this card. I made this card for my cousin who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer. I thought the happy strawberry images with the cute little pink ribbon tucked on the side will help cheer her up! Inside it reads this:

Here is the sketch over at Card Patterns

I also combined Papertrey's MIM challenge #65 with this because I am a firm believer in hoarding-errr, using up my scraps. ;) So I used a bunch of scraps from my Crate Paper stash to come up with the background for my strawberries.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you have a berry great day.

MIM #65 - Background Patterns

Another Make It Monday with Papertrey? Heck Yes!!! This week's MIM is all about using scrap papers to make fun backgrounds. If you'd like to see Dawn McVey's fun tutorial on how she thinks through her background made with scrap papers, click here.

And I am still enjoying last week's MIM using a color inspiration that Nichole Heady picked out. So I am going to use that color palette with Dawn's background technique! Here is the one that I picked:

And here is the card that I came up with for this week's challenge:

Since I don't own any patterned papers within my chosen color scheme I had to make them up myself. I used Background Basics: Houndstooth, BB: Text Style, and images from the Sending You stamp set to make patterned paper. I used the Sending You stamp set for the sentiment and words on the flowers. I used all PTI gear except for the leaves (sizzix) and the twine (MME).

Thanks for stopping by!

Papertrey Ink's MIM# 64- Using Color Inspiration

Can I just say that I {LOVE} this week's MIM over at Papertrey???!!! I am one of those people who look at color challenges and say, "Huh?". It is a great tutorial on how to look at color inspiration and incorporate that into a project. I really had a fun time with this card. So let's dive right in, shall we?

Here is the inspiration color palette that I used:

I wanted to use some colors that I wouldn't have paired together since that seems to be where my greatest problem lies. I look at those colors and just don't have anything that comes to mind and I just sit there and stare at the screen with that look. You know which one I'm speaking of. :)

So here is my take on the challenge:

Now, I am not really sure how well I incorporated these colors but I feel like I'm moving in the right direction and that is success for me! I wanted to play with my new Strawberry Patch stamp set (PTI) but everyone and their mothers have used the typical green and red combo for the strawberries. I thought I could take this in a different direction and the result reminds me of some vintage pillowcases that I saw at a thrift store recently.

Totally out of the ordinary for me but it was a fun challenge. If I have time I think I am going to try some of the other color inspiration photos and see what I can come up with.

Thanks for stopping by!