PTI favorite

Today I'm re-posting my favorite project from the last year using Papertrey Ink products for a chance at an amazing prize package.  You can see the details for the contest on Nichole's blog.

This layout is my favorite for a lot of reasons.  Craft, argyle, woodgrain, scallops, buttons and this picture of my boys which is my absolute favorite EVER.

Thanks for stopping by!

10.19.10

Today's card was made for a friend of the family who retired after 37 years of working in the local mine.  37 years!!

This card features leaf prints form PTI and I was looking all over for a retirement sentiment when I remembered Practicing Creativity's Chatterbox.  Love that sentiment set, there's a lot of different sentiments you don't find frequently.  The size was perfect to fit on this tag with my leaf.  I rock and rolled the leaf with orange zest and terra cotta tile and the background is stamped with terracotta tile on orange zest CS.  The tag and ribbon are the beautiful fine linen, I'm more and more in love with this color each time I use it!!

I've also got my very first knock off wood project to share with you today.  It's a bookshelf adapted from this amazing wall bookshelf.

The original sat on the floor, but because of that radiator, mine had to be wall mounted.  What I love best about this bookshelf is how the books face outward.  My kids always had a tough time getting the books put in library style so they would sit on the floor in a sort of stack until I picked them up.  This way they can put them away so easily!!  As you busy Mom's know, anything they can do themselves is always less work for us!  I also simplified the tops and cut them rounded off, because this was my very first wood project ever and I wasn't quite sure how I'd do with a jig-saw.

This was seriously so easy and fun to build and it cost $27.72 including screws!!

and because I have two rowdy boys....

 you can see that before I could even photograph it they did this.

Which is the entire reason I didn't want to pay big bucks for a bookshelf  :)

Thanks for stopping by!

10.13.10

Hello Everyone!

Sorry to leave the blog unattended for so long.  I feel guilty not stopping in, but you know how it is, life just gets busy!  So what have I been up to? 

Well I got distracted by

  

Knock Off Wood

Which got me into building furniture!!  So far I've built this Kids elementary table and these storage chairs, then a variation of this book shelf.  I used this farmhouse table plan to make a workbench for my husband, and I'm working on a dining room table using that plan too but I adjusted it to be wider.  Just yesterday I built these totally fun Truss shelves.  Using my own plan I also made a side table for the living room and am working on a bench for the dining room table. 

So, yeah, I got a little obsessed!  Haven't taken any pictures of them yet, but if you'd like to see anything just let me know.

Besides that, the wood for our wood boiler so we've been cutting and hauling that like it's going out of style!  There's been no crafty time for this girly, but I've got a couple more cards from Practicing Creativity.

This one uses the tree and sentiment from Retro Christmas and the presents from The Whole Cycle.  Fun isn't it?!

Here's a tag using hte deer and striped tree from Retro Christmas and happy birthday sentiments from you're the man.

Here's a clean lined masculine card featuring the striped tree from Retro Christmas and sentiments from Chatterbox.

Thanks for stopping by!

you're the man

Today I've got a masculine card for you featuring Practicing Creativity's You're the man and PTI's It's Official.  The bolts in the background are heat embossed on simply chartreuse cardstock.  I stamped the ruler on kraft cardstock and stamped some woodgrain in dark chocolate over it.  I stamped the sentiment, also from you're the man, on a fillable frames #4 die. 

I really like the simplicity of this one.

Now I've got to run, there's a full 3 hours of quiet until my boys gets home from pre-school.  Got to check some things off the to-do list and enjoy the peace and quiet! :)

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a fantastic day!!

Dot spot birthday

Today's card is a bright and fun birthday card Featuring dot spot and a sentiemnt from Birthday Bash Sentiments.

I'm so completely addicted to this Label 4 die!  Seriously, I LOVE this thing!!!

Stamped a couple dot spots off the edges.  If I did this again I'd switch out the red for a lighter color, it's a bit hard to see the sentiment, but whatever, live and learn.  Right?!   I kept the colors gender neutral so the card could be used for either sex.

Supplies all PTI:

Cardstock:  black, white, Simply Chartreuse

Ink:  Palette Noir, Pure Poppy, Ripe Avocado, Hawaiian Shores

Stamps: Dot Spot, Birthday Bash Sentiments

Other:  Linen and Canvas Impression Plate, Hawaiian Shores Grosgrain ribbon

Just droppin' a line

This stamp set is just too much fun!  It's from WPlus9, it's called Hooked On You.

How perfect is this for a fisherman's birthday?  Man cards are just not easy, so I kept it really simple.  The only thing I don't like is my funky bow on the hook  It's strands of embroidery floss and they just wouldn't stay together, grrrr.  Other than that I really like it, what do you think??

Thanks for stopping by!!

Dad's day card

Just poping in with a super quick Dad's day card.  "You're a super" is from Star Prints.  I used the Mat Stack one die and baseballs from Have a ball.  Dad was cut with my cricut using the Sesame Street Font cartridge.

The embossing really brings this card to life.  I used the linen plate on the Enchanted Evening background and the woodgrain on the mat stack die cut.

Thanks for stopping by

Fly away with me

It's time for another color cue challenge!

Being a mom of two boys, blue is right up my alley, so this was do-able for me.

I'm not sure who the manufacturer or this plane stamp is, but it's cute.  The sentiment is PaperTrey Ink's Up up and away sentiments.

Not sure if you can tell or not, but I used the linen impression plate on the yellow background piece, just to add a little something.  The plane was masked and the puffs behind the plane are heat embossed so I could sponge the cloud background.

I'm also awaiting my first stamps from WPlus9 and can't wait til I get them.  I ordered both of their new releases the birds and the bees and background builders:  Hearts. 

You're the best ever

Isn't that sentiment just the best ever?

Who's not going to smile receiving a message like that?

I think this one will go into my hubby's lunchpail just to say "thanks for all you do"

A bunch of stamp sets used on this one:  Star Prints, BB:woodgrain, A little argyle and Big and Bold wishes.  It also uses the mat stack one die and the star punch from fiskars that coordinates with Star Prints.

This weekend was a fantastic one, my girlfriend was home from Montana!!  She's one of those friends who you could go years without speaking to but you can pick up just where you left off like you talked to her yesterday.  Do you know what I mean?  Do you have friends like that too?

We also went to see Shrek The final chapter with the boys, it was really cute.  I was pretty concerned being that it's the fourth installment, but we really did enjoy it.

Well, dishes laundry and kiddos are calling me I'll see ya soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharing some YUM!

Before I get to today's card I have got to share a fantastic recipe with you.

This, my friends, is Fluffy French Toast and it is by far the most delicious french toast I've ever tasted.  It's like a hybrid of pancakes and french toast.  Can you say YUMMY!?!  We've had it three times in two weeks and I really don't ever cook breakfast, so that should tell you something.

Now I can't take credit for this recipe, it's from the Tasty Kitchen, but I will copy and paste it here for you.

Fluffy French Toast
Prep Time 5 Minutes
Cook Time 10 Minutes
Servings 5


Ingredients
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1 cup Flour
1 cup Milk
2 whole Eggs
1-¾ teaspoon Baking Powder
½ teaspoons Salt
1 teaspoon Sugar
⅛ teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
½ teaspoons Maple Flavoring (Optional, See Note Below)
10 slices Bread, Your Choice
Note: if you do not use the maple flavoring, add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Preparation Instructions
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and brush on just enough vegetable oil to coat the entire skillet. Whisk together all the dry ingredients, and in a separate bowl, mix together all the wet ingredients. Combine the wet and dry ingredients; stir until just combined. Pour the batter into an 8×8 square baking dish and dip single pieces of bread into the batter, flipping to coat both sides. Place immediately on the hot skillet. Flip when browned and brown the other side.
Serve immediately. Enjoy!

As sure as I am that you will enjoy that, you come here for the cards, so without further ado....

Here is today's card

It was a happy suprise that this sentiment from Through the trees fits perfectly inside of the fillable frames 1 stamp.  The plaid background on the craft is the line strip from Let Freedom Ring.  Overall, I kept this one pretty simple to give the beautiful sentiment a chance to shine.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies all PTI unless noted
Cardstock:  White (HP), Craft, Scarlet Jewel
Stamps:  Fillable Frames #1, Through the trees, Let Freedom Ring
Ink:  Dark Chocolate, Scarlet Jewel, Tea dye duo
Other: Scarlet Jewel Ribbon, Large Scallop die, Fillable Frames #1 Die