PTI February Blog Hop Art Journal

Hey everyone!  I'm so pleased to be participating in this month's PTI Blog Hop.  I've begun an Art Journal recently and was excited to see what I could do with altered art to capture the essence of this month's blog hop picture.

Papertrey Ink MIM Framing Sentiments: Art Soul Life

Hey there! Today's post is all about framing your sentiments and images for the 313th Make It Monday challenge over on the PTI Blog this week (Have you ever stopped to think of how many challenges that is?! Wowzer!!).  Framing and Matting do similar things for your images and sentiments, but framing gives you so many more options to really make those focal points shine.

PTI 11th Anniversary: Day 7 Dies Only

Hey there!  Have you been as busy as me creating lots of fun cards and projects along with the PTI 11th Anniversary Challenges?! I love this time of year and sure do get a LOT of projects done during the anniversary week.

PTI 11th Anniversary: Day 5 Retirement Challenge

Hey there! Hope you're enjoying the PTI Anniversary week as much as I am!  It's thrilling to see all of the new additions that will be added this coming year in terms of inspiration and new products! Now, on to the Day 5: Retirement Challenge.

Found: Linen Paper to Print Your 2018 Planner On and other Tips and Tricks!

Hey everyone!  I really enjoyed sharing my planner yesterday on the PTI blog and here on my blog yesterday.  I received some really good questions and thought I would share some tips and tricks for printing out your 2018 Planner today.

Tip 1: First up is the paper.  One of the reasons the PTI planner was so awesome was because of the linen paper.  It was thick enough to prevent ink bleed through, but thin enough not to clog up the planner binder. I separated the Months from the Weeks so that I could print them on different but complimentary papers.  You DON'T have to do this.  I printed the Months on the PTI Fresh Snow Linen paper.  Then.....

I found the PERFECT linen paper to print the Weeks on over at Amazon.  I've printed 3 complete planners out so far (one for my Sissy, SIL and me) and they all look amazing!  Here is a look at the paper up close.  The linen paper is double sided so both sides have the linen look and feel.  Some papers aren't like that so be sure to look in the description of any paper you might find.

In this photo the paper looks almost ivory (shows the grain a bit better), but in real life it VERY white!

(I'm not editing any of my photos today.  This post is a bit of a rush...sorry!) 

Tip 2: Next up is lining up your die.  I look through my paper and place a faint pencil mark where the back and front line up to place the die.  The linen paper makes this easy to do.

Tip 3:   Now lining up the weekly sheets with the die means that you are going to cut off a bit of the bottom of the page.  Every printer is different so you'll have to fool around with the pages and die to figure out where you will cut every time.  Above you can see that I cut on the 5th line of the bottom "notes" area on the left which didn't leave much room at the top.  On the right side I cut on the 4th line of the "notes" area and it looks perfect.

Tip 4: Measure twice and cut once. This is UBER important!  You don't want to make a mistake, because printing out another sheet is a bit tricky, wasteful and time consuming.  I use washi tape on both sides of the PTI MI page die to ensure a perfect cut every time. On this monthly page, I cut too far down and skimmed the bottom of the calendar.  After spending so much time cutting out the planners, I know now that trying to cut corners doesn't make for a well cut planner page. EEKS! So if you need to take a break, do so.  You don't want to burn out on the measuring and cutting.  You might wind up with a page like this one.

Tip 5: Monthly Tabs and Decorating.  I am reusing my PTI 2017 planner dividers.  But you can make them pretty easily with punches and tabs available at PTI and any crafting store.  For my sister, I found the Simple Stories Carpe Diem Mini Sticker Books. The stickers fit perfectly in this size planner and make for pretty decorating.  But you can still use all of your Planner stamps too since the linen paper prevents most bleed through.

Tip 6: The BEST Planner Pens.  I have been experimenting with different pens on the planner pages and found the Uni-Ball Signo pens to be the BEST!  They don't skip and they come in BEAUTIFUL colors.  There are also the TUL gel pens which are fabulous pens.  I'm sure there are others, but these are the ones that I've found.

I hope this post helps a little bit with the printing, cutting and assembling your Planner.  If you have any other questions, just leave me a note below and I'll respond. Happy Planning!

PTI March Blog Hop

Hey there! I'm participating in this month's PTI Blog Hop. The inspiration photos are so pretty!

PTI Make It Monday Challenge #278

**********UPDATE**********

I was highlighted in this MIM challenge! Woot Woot! You can read the PTI newsletter to see more!

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Today was a wonderful day of creativity! My back surgery is healing nicely and it is making me happier than a bird with a french fry! This week's MIM challenge is to make a Window Chipboard Sentiment.

Papertrey Ink 10th Anniversary Day 5 Transformation Contest

Hey everyone! Today's final contest of PTI's 10th Anniversary Release Day 5 is to take a clunker reject of the week and transform it into a great card.  I don't usually keep rejects, but I did have my favorite floral stamp set, Bloomin' Cute, out that I just couldn't make a card work with earlier this week.

PTI's 10th Anniversary Day 2 Challenge - Repeat Patterns

Papertrey Ink is celebrating their 10th anniversary with fun challenges all week! Today's challenge, Day 2 of the sneak peeks, is to make a project using repeat patterns.  So, I found this little arrow die from Bubble Talk Stamp Set and Dies and thought it would be great to use for a bright uplifting card.

Celebrating 2016 and the 10 years of AMAZING PTI designs!

Welcome to my last card for the 10th Year Anniversary Celebration over at PTI.  I wish I had just a few more hours to complete all 10 challenges, but, alas, I'll have to be satisfied with 7.  Today I am using the fabulous stamp set Better Together for a bright and cheerful card for my sweet, sweet SIL! Seriously, there is not a sweeter woman on the planet and she has to put up with my brother, which makes her ANGELIC too! ;)

Riding in the Future of PTI's 2013 Celebration

Welcome to my sixth challenge post celebrating PTI's 10th year Anniversary.  This challenge is all about Stamp Sets released in 2013.  I love a Clean and Graphic card, and I thought that style would be great with the single wheel from Pedal Pusher embossed in crisp lines.

5 Cards to Celebrate 2009 with Papertrey Ink!!

 Welcome! Today I am playing along again with Papertrey Ink's 10 year Anniversary Challenges. And although I don't have any of the 5 stamp sets celebrating 2009, I definitely do have and love the hearts cover plate which I thought would be great to use for non-traditional cards.  I've also found a way to layer the different colored cover plates to make a card similar to the beautiful multi-layered die-cut cards that are all the rage now, but are WAY out of my price range!

Celebrating 2008's Past Present and Future with PTI

Welcome to today's post celebrating the Past, Present and Future of PTI's 2008 releases! Time to dust off my all time favorite Bitty Baby Blessings Stamp Set and my new Spectrum Noir Illustrator Markers and see what we come up with!

Celebrating 2012 with PTI!

Hi and welcome to the 2012 year being celebrated over at PTI!  I have the fabulous 2012 Hello Sunshine Stamp Set and the Spinner Dies, so off comes the dust and back to the craft table again.

Celebrating PTI's Past, Present, Future 2011

Hey everyone.  Today I'm playing along with  PTI's 10th Anniversary Past Present and Future 2011 Challenge.  These are just so much fun and I am on a MOJO ROLL!! So let's get to it.  

Holiday Wreath

I'm so excited about all the new There She Goes releases from Saturday.  We had a blast at the release party. Now that everyone's in full holiday card-making mode, it seems like the perfect time to share some creations using the new sets.

Here is beautiful wreath designed by Chris Dark in the new set Seasons Greetings.  I just love EVERY image in it!

I broke out some Webster's Pages DP and colored my wreath with Copics. This cardstock is not the best so I had a little bit of bleeding, but the card turned out pretty all the same.  So here's the inside using a sentiment and the smaller wreath from the set...I messed up a bit on the placement, but hey, looks truly hand-made that way doesn't it?!

 I'm entering this card into the following challenges:
Papercutz Challenge#69-Anything Goes
Creative Belli Challenge#105-R Embellies
Sew Many Cards Challenges #34 - Red and Green
Simple Doodles Challenge #31 - Cute As A Button 
I Did It Creations Challenge #31- Surprise Me
Stampin' B's Design Team Challenge #86-Holiday Card

Have a great day y'all and come back tomorrow for some more eye candy! Am I at 100 subscribers yet?? Hmm...wonder what kinda blog candy I'll be offering?! Hee hee

Candy Canes

Edited to add: WOO HOO!! I was picked as a Top 3 at the Shabby Tea Room.How exciting is that?! :-D

Hey everyone! Hope you had a great weekend.  Here's a little card I made today in between chores and taking the kids back to Snoqualmie Pass.

There She Goes is the sponsor of this weeks Shabby Tea Room Challenge #34 so I thought I'd participate.  (I didn't use TSG stamps though....shhhhh) As soon as I saw this week's Inspiration Photo, I wanted to use the new Papertrey Ink Frendship Jar Holiday Fillers.  I used Jen's SFYTT sketch for this week too.

And here's my card:

 Well, gotta go get Riley packed up.  He leaves for a 4 day trip EARLY tomorrow morning.  Have a great day and I'll be back with more to share tomorrow. :-D

Baby Booties

Hey everyone! I've been needing to make some baby cards and figured tonight would be good to break up the orange, green, purple and black that has invaded my craft area. :) 

 I used a There She Goes stamp set called Bit of Stardust, PTI felt, buttons, twine, cardstock, die, impression plate, ink and a very simple layout.  I don't usually make baby cards too fussy.  Babies are just so simple, pure, innocent, aren't they? And here's the card:

Well, this is super quick, cuz I have lots to do.  My workshop for Sunday is full so I have to cut everyone's paper, put away another 15 boxes of "stuff", clean the house.....well, you get the picture. :-D 

Have a great weekend everyone! :-D

Witch's Brew

Hey everyone! Here's a card that I did for a few challenges today. (I took a break from unpacking.... :-D ) I built the card around this week's Pile It On Challenge - Halloween for Kids (I'm giving this card to my 11 year old Step-Daughter for Halloween) and  Color Throwdown #115.  I'm not all that great with color challenges so I'm trying to participate in at least one a week to get better.

 

The Cupcake Inspiration Challenge#81 is sweet this week too!

 

 And here's my card:

It's so much prettier in person.  I used Spica Pens on the stars and swirls of the "Witch's Brew" and a little more to highlight the socks and boots! :-D

 

And here are a few of the other challenges that I LOVE and am so honored to be able to participate in this week:

Marks Finest/Speedy's Friends - Stitching

Stampin' for the Weekend - Halloween

Stamp Something/Stamp Challenges - Halloween

Inktegrity - Halloween/Fall

Karber Monthly - Halloween Characters/Fantasy

Really Reasonable Ribbon - Halloween
Crazy4Challenges - Autumn/Fall
Inky Impressions - Anything Goes
Alphabet Challenge Blog - Y is for Yellow
Creative Cottage Challenge#25 - Halloween
Stampin' for the Weekend - Halloween

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Papertrey Ink Friendship Jar and Friendship Jar -Fall Fillers
Paper: Papertrey Ink Cardstock, Basic Grey Max & Whiskers
Ink: Copics (YR12,15,18,20; E17;Vo6,91,99;BV01,13; G0000;BG11); Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Zva Crystals
Other: Spellbinders Oval, Scalloped Oval Nesties; Papertrey Ink Impression Plate; Janome Sew Mini

Happy Fall!

Hey everyone....happy fall!! Well I am busy making lots of craft fair items and made these awesome felt flowers for lots of projects.  I am so excited about Kazan's sketch this week over at 2S4Y and the DT challenge! 2 challenge participants that get to be on this talent-filled Design Team?! Wowzer!! Here's the sketch:

And here's my card:

 I am so loving all the colors here in WA state, so I wanted to mimic them in a card.  In honor of my first challenge entry over at A Passion for Papertrey, I used Papertrey Ink products including the Woodgrain Impression Plate which I LUV! 

The flower is made withTerracotta Tile and Ripe Avocado felt die cut with the Beautiful Blooms 2 #3 die and Delightful Dahlia Die for the leaves.

Well, back to the craftin' table!  Hope y'all have a great day!