Papertrey May Blog Hop Challenge

This month's challenge for Papertrey Ink's Blog Hop was to come up with projects using their gorgeous new felt. With 2 little girls and hundreds of hair clips I thought I would give making my own clips a try. The felt cuts so easy with the new dies and with coordinating ribbons, was easy to come up with lots of combinations. My favorite is the "cloud" clip. I sewed little seed beads to give the clip some dimension. It would be a great clip to wear on a cloudy, rainy day! I also really like the way the black gingham clip came out. It's amazing how little time they all took. I just made all the little embellishments at

one time and then hot glued them onto a ribbon covered hair clip. I can't wait for more felt colors to be released...I was a bit limited by the few colors available. But here's to hoping for next release!

The last picture is of my goofy little models...trying to get them to hold still is near impossible!

A Card and Soap!

This card was actually made by my six year old son last week while recovering from getting whacked in the face with a softball...we had to keep all physical activity to a minimum-like that is at all possible-so we took out some PTI goodies and he put this little gem together. He then wrote a sweet note to all the members of our local congregation who had been showering him with sweets and balloons.

Speaking of showering, after seeing a post on Lisa Johnson's blog, (http://www.poppypaperie.typepad.com), about the ease of soap-making, I decided to give it a try. These are really simple melt-and-pour soaps, using supplies from my local Micheal's store (clear and olive oil soap, fragrances, molds and lavender buds). I did put in an order to www.brambleberry.com which is scheduled to arrive on Monday...definitely check out their website and the Soap Queen's blog. Lots of video tutorials there...these soaps were the easiest things ever to make...I think they have the potential to make fantastic hostess gifts. Just wrap them all pretty using Lisa's new PTI set, Just for You.

Happily Ever Challenged #6-Eat Your Heart Out

Thanks to Ted on his blog www.happilyevercrafter.com for this great challenge. Based on the last digit of my birth year (1973), I needed to come up with a card that had a blue base (I used Enchanted Evening base and Spring Rain as the 2nd paper), heat embossing (the coral stamp is from Amuse), glitter (which I sprinkled on the coral and applied to the little fish) and incorporate an animal (the fish, but of course as I am typing this I noticed the nautical theme for #4...hope the fish counts as an animal!). I made the little hook with some wire, which was I inspired to do after seeing what Little Miss "T" did with wire on her guy cards. Hope you like it and thanks Ted for such a great challenge. I loved it!!

Papertrey Princess Challenges #7&8

Hello ladies...this post has been a while in the making. I've had the cards done for some time, but getting some time to post them on my blog has been near impossible. Better late then never (coming from someone who sent out her birth announcements when the baby was 6 months old!).

The first challenge was from Bethie...with spring in the air we were to use a new technique, new idea, new color combo. I came up with a card using 3 different sets: "Through the Trees", "Fruitful" and "Signature Greetings"...on the front is a peach tree, hence the sentiment inside.

Next was Diane's challenge to make a card using a B&W color scheme with one additional color to pop. I love the way Raspberry Fizz looks with B&W. I also got to use my BB dies, which I absolutely LOVE. I can't wait to play with them some more!

Once again ladies, thanks for the great challenges! This has been fun!

Papertrey Princess Challenge #5 & 6...catch up!

Hello all...sorry this has taken so stinkin' long to post. Life has been conspiring against me lately and I have had very, very little time to get crafty. Between sick kids, passing all the illnesses around like a hot potato, school, you name it...lots going on. But I digress...this is a post that represents 2 great challenges, Cheryl gave us the challenge to CASE someone's blog (which was INCREDIBLY difficult to do, more on that later) and Valerie had us thinking out of the color box and create something with neutral tones (love it!).

Ok, as far as the CASEing assignment...I was assigned to Melissa's blog. my biggest issue was what to choose to copy. Seriously, I could not make up my mind. I finally decided on

this card:then I de

cided that I would apply the technique used in this card and apply Valerie's challenge...to my suprise, while lookin

g through Melissa's blog, she did the same thing. So I think I might have taken CASEing (or stalking) to a new level! I made the background paper using PTI's In Bloom stamp and PTI Chai ink. All the CS is PTI, as is the ribbon (and button) which was distressed with Chai ink also.

So PTI Princesses thanks for your patience with me...I have been so inspired by everyone's creativity and pushing outside my own comfort level to come up with something to add in response to all the great challenges! Thanks for taking a look!

Papertrey Princess Challenge #4 Score It!

Papertrey Princess Challenge #4- Score It!

For Pam's challenge we were to use scoring as a background or focal image for our project. I decided to use scoring to make my image *pop* off the card (almost literally). I cut a piece of Kraft CS into a 5 1/4"x 5 1/4" square and then scored equal triangle to make the flaps of the card. It's a little difficult to tell from my pictures but I also scored 1/2" from the top of the triangles, on which I mounted my leaves and flower. (As a side point, the next time I make this type of card I will adhere velcro under the focal image and to the opposing leaf or background image to make opening and closing the card a little easier. I used a pop-dot this time and it was too sticky). With the extra score line the card could close flat and be put into an envelope, but when it's laying out it pops up a bit and gives it a little 3D effect. The total measurement for the card is 3 3/4" square, so it will fit into a 4" square envelope. Thanks for taking a peek!

2 Challenges at once! Poppy Seed Challenge#1 and Papertrey Princess Challenge #3

My post today shows a few different projects that were for both Lisa Johnson's first Poppy Seed challenge and the Papertrey Princess Challenge #3. Most of the supplies are from PTI, but the mermaid is from Bombshell Stamps, which has some really fantastic stamps. Think 50's pin-up girl/sailor tattoo art. Pretty unique. We've got a whole mermaid thing here at our house (gorgonoula means "little mermaid" in Greek), so I just loved to color this stamp. The quilt card has a cute little heart gem on it from Amuse, and the crystals in the center of the violet are from PTI. Enjoy and thanks for all of your feedback.