Whaaaat? I Made the Top 3?!!!!

No way!  OMG!  Becky chose me as one of the Top 3 in last week's Compose a Card Challenge. Click here to take a look. Wow! What an honor. I am so excited and surprised. What a great way to start the morning!

I've got to say that her challenges are a lot of fun. It really helps to have the elements of the card already given to you. If you haven't participated in her challenges yet, I highly recommend giving it a try.

Okay, I'm going to try to make something for either today's PTI challenge or the CPS Sketch challenge. I'll post again soon.

Woo hoo!

PTI's Paint by Numbers Contest

Whew! I'm staying up late so I can join this contest.

This is my color palette. I was excited about my color combo because I love vibrant colors. Raspberry Fizz and Ripe Avocado are two of my favorite PTI colors. I've also developed a fondness for Orange Zest and Terracotta Tile. I just never thought that I'd be making a card using all these colors.

I first thought I'd be using all the colors in cardstock. But, it wasn't easy getting the right balance of cardstock using all the colors. So, then it hit me! Why not do what PTI stamps are great for...make my own patterned paper using all those colors.

I decided to have the two oranges be the main color of the card and the Raspberry Fizz and Ripe Avocado to be the accent colors. I used my favorite PTI stamp set, In Bloom, and stamped the flowers in Orange Zest and Terracotta Tile. I then stamped the leaves in Ripe Avocado. I needed to incorporate the Raspberry Fizz in the pattern, but I wanted to use a tiny image. I ended up using the triple berry stamp from Out on a Limb.

Here's how my card ended up looking. I was able to use all the colors in my pallette and keep it balanced.

The scalloped Raspberry Fizz piece looked really bare so I stamped the same flower image using Versamark ink. It added some interest without adding any more color.

 Here's my sentiment. One can never have enough birthday cards.

Thanks for visiting.

Sydney's Valentine Treats

I love making special treats for my children's class. It's just that I sometimes find myself not having enough time to do so. This time around, I started planning their Valentine's Day treats in advance. These are Sydney's treats for her classmates.

I used Stampin' Up's mini milk carton die. I love this die! It's the perfect size to hold treats. These hold 9-10 Hershey's Kisses. I've also put about 10 Starbursts in them.  The image and sentiment are from PTI's Tiny Treats: Valentine's set. I colored the image with my Copic markers. I know the coloring isn't very good, but I didn't want to spend too much time making them perfect. These are for 1st graders and I had to make 30 of them!

I used inexpensive cardstock and patterned paper since these are for kids whose main objective is to get to the treat inside, rather than saving the packaging. For this picture, I made one carton using a piece of PTI's Simple Valentine paper. The tag was made with PTI's Heart Prints and Simple Alphabet stamp sets. I cut the tags out with SU's tag punch.

I didn't want the kids to totally ruin the carton to get to the candy so I made the bottom recloseable. On one panel, I used SU's slit punch. On the opposing panel, I used SU's slot punch. I also stamped "open here" using a stamp set I bought from Clear Dollar Stamps. Now, the kids can refill it if they want to.

Stay tuned for more pictures of Valentine treats. I still have two more classrooms to make them for.

Becky's Compose a Card Challenge #2

Time for Becky's challenge again. Here's this week's Compose a Card Challenge.

Here's my card. All the stamps I used are from Papertrey Ink. I stamped the Turning a New Leaf images in Spring Moss. I punched out the tiny flowers using Stampin' Ups 3-flower punch using the colored cardstock listed in the challenge. I used the flower image from the Limitless Labels set and stamped it in the three colors. I didn't have Summer Sun ink so I used Stampin' Ups Pumpkin Pie.  For the sentiment, I used the birthday greeting from Birthday Basics.  The score lines are a bit difficult to see, but they are at every 1/4 inch.

I was lucky to find one flower button that matched the colors. I sewed each button to the card with twine. This kept the buttons more flush with the card.  

I used the same elements from the front of the card to decorate the inside.

One of my daughter's daycare provider is leaving tomorrow so she can work closer to home. I am planning on giving her this scrapbook that I made from a kit by SEI. The colors matched the colors from the card challenge. So, while I was making this card, I thought it would be perfect to give it to her along with the scrapbook.

In my excitement of making the card, I'd forgotten my plans to give is as a "good luck" card and used the "happy birthday" sentiment instead. So, I had to improvise. I used the Borders and Corners: Rectangle dotted border stamp to outline the sentiment. The sentiment is from Mega Mixed Messages. I cut out the image and taped it to a rectangle scallop that I punched out with my Marvy punch. Voila! It covered the original sentiment. 

Thanks for visiting!

Cutie Cupcake

I started playing with some scraps that I had lying around and I ended up making this card.

I usually have a hard time making something just from things that are lying around, but this one came together pretty easily. Please ignore the coloring. I didn't make the image specifically for this card. I had made the image several days ago just to try out my new Baby Button Bits stamp set. I kind of colored it in rather lazily.

Here's the inside. The smaller cupcake is from Tiny Treats: Valentine's set.

Becky's Compose a Card Challenge #1

One of my favorite designers, Becky Oehlers, has started posting challenges on her blog. This is the first one.

I decided to use In Bloom and Text Styles to make the background and the focal image in the heart.

I used to just make card fronts. This year, I'm going to start making full cards and make sure the inside is as pretty as the outside. I didn't stamp any sentiments because I wanted to be able to use this card for any occasion.

I found this really beautiful button in my stash of melon berry buttons. I so LOVE the swirl design on it.

If you look closely at the image, you'll see some sparkles on the flower. I used the clear glitter pen to give it some bling. It's really subtle and is easier to see in the sunlight. I love the look it gives.

Martha Stewart Purse and card holder

My daughter is going to a birthday party for one of her best friends. So, I made this little purse to hold the gift card she'll be receiving. I found the template on Martha Stewart's website. I kept it plain and simple.

I used these special "thingies" for the handle.

Here's a close-up of it. Sorry, I just can't remember what they are called.

This is how the purse opens. I added some velcro to help keep it closed.

The wallet inside is the same template I used to make my Christmas gifts a few posts ago.

I made two of these because the party was for twins.

Thanks for stopping by and looking.