My Grafico Blog Hop

It's hard to believe over a week has gone by since I last posted. Time seems to have gotten away from me again. It feels like we have also been living in the ice age for the last few days here. It is suppose to be in the 40's this weekend. These are the days that I miss summer the most. Hopefully it will be here again before we know it though.
Today I am participating in the first My Grafico Customer Blog Hop. Last month I was asked to make some custom birthday cards for a fellow Sheteam members children. When I asked her what kinds of things her kids liked she said dinosaurs and princesses. I have hundreds of stamp sets now but believe it or not I didn't have any of those kinds of images. Instead of going and buying another stamp set I decided to check out the digital stamps My Grafico has and found some great images that would work. This is the card I came up with for her son.

I started by resizing the dinosaur from this set in Word then printed him out on some white cardstock and colored him with my Copics. When I was done with that I cut the dino out and added him to a piece of Kraft cardstock using dimensionals. Next I cut out a circle using a Nestability die then stamped the Happy Birthday Sentiment on it from the PTI Around and About sentiments set. Inside the circle I added her sons age that I cut out from some Kraft cardstock using a Cuttlebug die. After that I matted the dinosaur on a piece of Dark Chocolate cardstock that I ran through my cuttlebug using the Tiny Bubbles embossing folder then matted it on a piece of Leaf Green Cardstock. I finished the card off with some faux sitiching.
This is the card I made for her youngest daughter.

These images are from this set Once again I resized the images in Word then printed them out and colored them with my Copics. After that I added some Martha Stewart silver glitter to them to make them sparkle. When I was done with that I attached them to a piece of black cardstock. Next, I created the background piece by doing the Simple Green technique from the April 08 Technique Junkies newsletter then I matted the fairy piece on it. To finish the card off I personalized it with the birthday girls name using the PTI Simple Alphabet set.
I would highly recommend you check out My Grafico for digital images next time you need a stamp. As you can see their images are wonderful and I look forward to using them more in the future. You can also see the list of the other participants here
I am also entering these in the Caardvarks Digital Challenge
On another note Hanukkah starts tonight so I want to wish those that celebrate it a Happy Hanukkah! I will be back soon with more things to share. In the meantime I hope you have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.

Ice Skating

I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. We had our typical one where my dad buys the turkey then my family comes over and I do the cooking. I don't mind it though because I like to cook. Family is also the most important thing to me in life so I am always greatful when we all get together.
Ice Skating is something that is very popular in our house. Rich has played hockey most of his life, I skated a lot as a kid and Emilia has been taking figure skating lessons for over a year now and loves it. This month my Etsy Sheteam challenge is Winter sports. So in honor of our love of ice skating I came up with this.
I started by finding some free ice skate clip art here. I resized it in Word then printed it out on White Cardstock. When I was done with that I applied white glitter to make the boots shine. After that I matted a piece of Raspberry Fizz Cardstock on Silver Shimmer Cardstock then stamped some snomflakes on it from the Rustic Snowflakes set with snow white ink. When I was done with that I attached the skate image and sewed around it with silver thread. The great thing about this card is when you open it you have an Easel Card.

I have been wanting to make one of these for awhile now and finally got the chance to do it. This video is great for explaining how it is done. The base of my card is Papertrey's Spring Rain cardstock which I stamped more white snowflakes on. The Season's Greeting's Sentiment is from the Take a Bough Set and was stamped and embossed on a piece of Raspberry fizz cardstock.
Since this card is only 4 x 4 I made a matching envelope for it so it could be mailed using this tutorial.
That's it for now. I hope the rest of the week is a great one for you and I will be back soon with more things to share.

November Papertrey Blog Hop And Some Thanks

Tonight is the November Papertrey Bloghop.
This month the challenge was to create a quick & inexpensive wrap or tag that can be the perfect solution for "grab & go" gifts!
Since Hanukkah starts on December 11th this year and Emilia's favorite Hanukkah treat is gelt(chocolate coins), I decided to come up with some special packaging for it. This is what I came up with .
I started with some Raspberry Fizz Cardstock and the pillow box from The Cash or Charge My Timeless template. After I cut out the pillow box I ran it through my Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots embossing folder. When I was done with that I added a layer of Summer Sunrise to the outside edges.
The main image is a digital image from the Pink Cat Studio called Hanukkah Lily that I colored with my Copics. I hope you all will forgive me for not using a Papertrey stamp since it is a PTI bloghop but when I saw this image I knew it would be perfect for this project. After I was done coloring Lily I matted her on a piece of Summer Sunrise Cardstock that I cut out with a rectangle scalloped Nestabilities die. Next I punched a hole in the top of the image threaded a piece of sky blue ribbon through it then attached it to the box and tied it in a bow. To finish it off I used the PTI Simple Alphabet set to spell out Happy Hanukkah on some more Summer Sunrise Cardstock then cut it out and attached it to the handle. That's it. I think these pillow boxes would be a great quick way to wrap up any small item this holiday season.
On another note since Thanksgiving is tomorrow I also wanted to take a moment say how thankful I am for everyone that has visited my blog and left such wonderful comments. It really means a lot to me to know there are people out there that enjoy my work. As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great day tomorrow.

Pink Saturday and Happy Birthday Alexandra

It has been awhile since I last participated in Pink Saturday. The reason I have not been participating is because I have not been using much pink in my work lately. I finally have something pink to share with you though. Today is my niece Alexandra's 14th birthday. Where does the time go? She was suppose to be born on Christmas but decided she didn't want to wait. I can still remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. If she had waited one more day she would have been born on my dads birthday which is tomorrow but their birthdays are still only a day apart which still makes it fun to celebrate them both at the same time. Emilia got Alexandra a Signature Cocker Spaniel Webkinz but I also wanted to make her something special too so in honor of her love of Hello Kitty I came up with this.

I started by using Hibiscus Burst cardstock and Lauren Meaders Around Town Tote My Timeless Template. When I was done putting the tote together I cut out flowers from Summer Sunrise and Pink Blush cardstock using a flower image from the Cuttlebug Babyface dies. After that I randomly attached the flowers to the front and back of the tote. Next I found an image of Hello Kitty online then I resized it, printed it and cut it out. When I was done with that I colored her in with my Copics and attached her to the front of the tote with some dimensional foam. On the sides I added panels of Summer Sunrise cardstock that were run through my Cuttlebug using the swiss dots embossing folder.
Finally I added some Summer Sunrise Twill ribbon and tied it in a bow. On the back side of the ribbon I stamped Happy Birthday from the Birthday Basic set.
Inside the tote she will find this. A crocheted french barrette hair clip that I made.
That's it. I hope she likes it. I am pretty sure she will though.That's all for now.
Be sure to check out Beverly's Blog for the list of the other people that are participating in Pink Saturday today too. As always thanks for stopping by and I hope to be back soon with more things to share.

Technique Tuesday

It's time for another Technique Tuesday. This month I am going to show you how I made this card
Supplies and dimensions are at the end of the video. If you have any questions let me know. I hope you enjoy it.

Hanukkah Candle Box

First off I wanted to say thanks to all of you that left such nice comments on my last post about the vintage ornament gift card holder. I was especially happy to hear I am not the only one that is a perfectionist when it comes to making things.
Today I am sharing another Hanukkah Gift with you.
When I saw the My Timeless Template Perfect Match Box I thought it would be perfect to hold Hanukkah Candles. You could also use it to hold gelt or other small gifts as well. After I printed and cutout the template using PTI Stampers Select White Cardstock I stamped the polka dots from the Polka Dots Basic II stamp set on it with Enchanted Evening Perfect Match Ink and put the outter part of the box together. When I was done with that I ran a strip of Stampers Select White Cardstock through my Cuttlebug using the tiny dots embossing folder and wrapped it around the middle of the box creating a band. Next I stamped the Menorah image from the Mazel Tov set and embossed it with silver embossing powder, then I colored in the candles with my Copics. After that I cut the image out with an Oval Nestabilities die and matted it on a scalloped oval that I cut out from some Enchanted Evening cardstock.
I used Enchanted Evening Cardstock to create the inside box.
To finish it off I tied a piece of Silver Sheer Metallic Edge ribbon around the box and tied it in a bow.
Tomorrow night is the Papertrey November new release. I am super excited about Laurens new Homeade Template and cordinating stamp set. She was having a give away for the template on her blog this week and picked the number 7 in honor of her sons birthday. I was 1 person away from winning it and was super bummed. At least I only have another day to wait before I can buy it. I still have to wait fot the stamps to arrive but can at least start creating the houses in the meantime though.
I also wanted to let you all know that this weekend the Etsygreetings team I am a member of is having a SALE on holiday greeting cards from 40+ indie artists myself included you can check that out here. Also the EtsyChai team that I am also a member of will be having a Miracles of Hanukkah Contest & Sale from 11/15 thru 11/22. there are more detail about that here for how to play and win. That's it for now we are suppose to get another winter storm this weekend but I really hope it misses us this time. I am planning on making this months technique video tomorrow though and hope to be back to share that with you on Tuesday. Until then I hope you have a great weekend and as always thanks for stopping by.

Christmas Gift Card Ornament

What a difference a week makes. Thankfully all the snow that I shared with you in my last post is gone now. We have been back in the 70's the last couple of days too. I have been very happy about that but like I have said before when you live in Colorado wait and minute and the weather will change. At least we are enjoying the warm weather while it lasts though.
Today I am sharing with you a Christmas Gift Card Ornament.
I have been working on this project for over a week now. This is an idea I have had in my head for awhile and finally got it done. One of my biggest problems when creating is keeping things simple and not being such a perfectionist. Sometimes I wish I could change that about me because I sure would get a lot more accomplished but overall I am very happy with how this turned out.
I started by using this template and some PTI Pure Poppy Cardstock. After I cut my ornament out I ran it through my Cuttlebug using the striped embossing folder then I sprayed some homemade glimmer mist I made using Razpberry Fizz Reinker, Pearl x and water on it to make it sparkle. While it was drying I made the middle section by taking a piece of Stampers Select White Cardstock and stamping on it with an image from the PTI Retro Background Set with Versamark Ink. Then I embossed it with silver embossing powder. After that I used a green gel pen to fill in circles then I added some Martha Stewart Glitter to the insides of the diamonds. If you have not tried her glitter yet I would strongly suggest you do. I think it is great and would highly recommend it. When I was done with that piece I attached it to the middle of the ornament then I attached the red ornament to a piece of stampers select white cardstock and cut around it leaving a thin white mat. When I was done with that I tied a piece of New Leaf twill ribbon in a bow then added a PTI Vintage cream button to the middle and sewed them both on with Rustic Cream Twine.
For the back of the ornament
I cut half a piece of Pure Poppy cardstock and added it to the bottom half of the back of the ornament creating a pocket for the gift card. The Happy Holidays from the PTI Holiday Wishes Sentiment set was stamped and embossed in silver as well. A piece of Silver Shimmer Cardstock that I cut with pinking sheers and punched the holes out with my Cropadile was added to the top of the pocket. I then added another piece of new leaf twill ribbon that I made into a loop to the top of the back of the ornament so it can be hung up. Finally I machine stitched around the whole thing with silver thread That's it. I hope you like it. I will be back soon with more holiday things to share so be sure stop by again soon. Until then have a great day and thanks for stopping by.