Celebrate (on the patio!)

Good morning!  Happy Mother’s Day!  I had a lovely afternoon yesterday, alternating between time in the studio and time on our sundeck (see picture below!).  I cracked open a new paper pad to use with this week’s Waltzingmouse Sketch challenge :)  The Say It Loud set is still in my little desk organizer so I chose a stamp that hadn’t seen ink yet :) 

So here’s a photo of what is keeping me out of the studio this weekend…

This was taken in the morning so the deck was in the shade…we get the sun in the afternoon :)  Seriously, if I didn’t have to work or stamp, I would be here ALL THE TIME!  I am blessed :)  Have a lovely day and if you’re like me, you are remembering your mom and wishing she were here :)

 

what’s in it?

stamps: wms say it loud

ink: versafine onyx

paper: pti white, lilybee design victoria park

accessories: seam binding ribbon, gems, jolee’s button, pti twine, stitching

In Love With You (and Studio pics!)

Good morning!  Yesterday was a VERY EXCITING day!!  As I was leaving the house before noon, the postal truck drove up and had not one but TWO packages for me :)  Then, when I checked our mail box ANOTHER package had arrived.  THEN our new living room furniture arrived!!  Oh, it felt like Christmas all over again.  I also spent some quality time in the studio, organizing more paper and making a few cards.  The colourQ challenge was on my “to do for sure” list and I had fun using some new and old items on this card.  The challenge this week is to use black and white with a splash of one other colour.  Hmmm, which colour?!  After some auditions, I went with HOT PINK!!  She wins almost every time when adding a pop of colour :)  The paper is from last year’s Echo Park’s Be Mine kit.  I still love this and you will probably see more of it as we get closer to Valentine’s Day ;)

I took a couple of pictures of the studio as it looked last night.  It’s a bit make shift right now until the new cupboards and counters come in and I can hang my ribbon holders on the wall.  But it’s starting to feel like “home.”

These are the 2 Ikea shelves we picked up in October.  They hold a LOT of things and were much cheaper than the ones in Nichole Heady’s new studio (if you follow the PTI newsletters).  HA!  There’s Seinfeld on t.v.!!  I picked up a cheap flat screen at Costco and it will be mounted on the wall soon too…counter space is expensive real estate in a studio, so anything that can be mounted on the wall will be :)

Now for something incredible that I discovered at Michaels this week!  The perfect die storage for my beloved Verve dies (which are on SALE right now!) and PTI dies.  I had 2 GCs from Santa to spend and LOVED going in after Christmas with them to pick up some Christmas and organization items on sale for 50 – 70% off!!  This little jewelry/drawer organizer was in one of the main aisles with a bunch of other matching organizers.  I thought it might be the perfect die holder and once I got home, I discovered it WAS!!  My dies fit perfectly!!  I went back to Michaels and picked up 2 more…for future growth!!  The right side, where my Verve dies are, is divided into 3 sections.  SCORE!!

Well, that’s all for me :)  I’m off to the gym and then for a pedicure this morning.  Then back into the studio for some more inky time :)  Hope your week has been fabulous :)

what’s in it?

stamps: pti love and marriage

ink: versafine onyx

paper: pti white, echo park be mine dp

accessories: pti edger die and ribbon, Michaels button, bakers twine, gems

Glad Tidings from the new Studio!

Hi dear friends!!  Wow, I think this is the longest time I’ve had between posts! There has literally been no time between work and unpacking the house.  I really tackled the studio today.  You don’t really realize how much “stuff” you have until you unpack it!! LOL  I even had the dh admit that maybe we should have made the studio a bit bigger!! ACK!! What did I say last April?!  I think it will be much better once the new counters and cabinets come, then I can really organize.  For now, I’ve just unpacked and set things up so I can start creating again.  AND as it was settling in at Dad’s in August, this tag took me a good 3 hours to make!  I just need to find my groove ;)  So today’s colours are via the ColourQ Challenge blog.  They also added a twist this week…anything but a card.  Hmm, okay, I’ll make a tag (to later put on a card! shh!)…my favourite thing to do with a tag!  Hey, did you notice the rusty bells?  I found them today and just had to use them right away :) I was SOOOO excited!!  Here is the yummy inspiration photo…

I actually want to make a fun card with this palette as well.  This is just a delicious combination!  Okay, I’ll leave you with some new photos…the fireplace!  I love the progression each day.  The only thing that wasn’t fun was all the concrete dust EVERYWHERE!  And just after we had cleaned everything :(

I was so excited to put up my beloved nativity scene.  I love that the stone makes it look so rustic.  Will need to find some nice greenery to add.

Thanks so much for visiting!!  Hopefully it won’t be too long until I’m back to regular posts.  Hope the rest of your weekend is lovely :)

 

what’s in it?

stamps: verve glad tidings

ink: versafine onyx

paper: pti white, kraft, su caribbean

accessories: pti tree and banner die, buttons, ribbon, cuttlebug embossing folders, gems, stitching, su linen thread, twine, rusty bells!!, pti felt

Thank You

Good evening! I am really off my regular 4:00 AM posting schedule!! LOL  But I’m going with the flow and not sweating the small stuff (except my rusty bells which are still MIA!).  This is a masculine card I made last week at Dad’s house.  A coworker came and asked if I had any thank you cards for a male coach.  Hmm, that’s pretty specific…I said I would bring her my thank you cards to work the next day.  Well, I had NO masculine thank you cards so I whipped this one up.  I was only too happy to use the lovely PTI botanical set again :)  Needless to say my coworker was very pleased and bought 2 more cards along with this one :)  We continue to be busy unpacking and getting used to the new home.  I have a few photos to share before I head off to bed. First up is the studio…in chaos, but slowly getting there. 

Next 2 photos are of the stone waiting patiently to be installed tomorrow!  Ah, cozy fireplace will be ready for the weekend…bliss!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Hope all is well in your corner of the world. 

 

what’s in it?

stamps: pti botanical silhouettes

paper: pti kraft, su sahara sand, lilybee designs dp

ink: versafine onyx, su riverrock, sahara sand

accessories: pti twine, buttons, fiskars border punch, creative concepts ef

Merry Christmas!

Good evening and TGIF!  I had this post all ready to go last night, but Dad’s internet was down again.  Luckily he was getting his new T.V. PVR in and they upgraded his internet modem and wireless router :)  So, here is today’s card, a little delayed.  We have a busy weekend, but I won’t mind…we are moving the final boxes AND temporary studio tomorrow!  I really wanted to squeeze in one more colourQ card in before the big MOVE so kept my Christmas stamps and dies out.  I had originally wanted to make some ornaments for this card, but I let the colour Muses guide me and out came a sparkly snowflake instead :)  That HUGE button was the biggest one in my PTI button jar…lol  It’s the perfect size for that snowflake IMHO.  Here are the colours this week…

Hopefully I won’t be offline too long…see you soon!  Have a wonderful weekend!  I’ll leave you with the final install of the railing :)

 

Wednesday…

Thursday…almost done!

Happy Birthday

Good morning everyone!  I’m sneaking in here with a little card that CASES a card I made a few weeks back :)  I loved the way the stamping turned out so I made another one but left off the frame and added some buttons and twine. 


I just love the look of stamping on patterned paper.  Anyways, this is a super quick post as we are packing up more things at Dad’s as our official move gets closer.  I’m thinking I may be off the “grid” Friday and part of the weekend as I move the computer and the rest of the temporary studio.  Here are a few more photo updates…

stove is in and hooked up…backsplash is done :)

I wanted my desk to be counter height with a stool, so I can have the option to sit or stand.  The shelving unit from Ikea was only desk height.  On the weekend, the dh and I were looking in Home Depot for some wood legs and found these brushed nickel legs…SOLD!! 

I think it looks like a piece of custom furniture now :)  Love when a plan falls into place :)  Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful hump day!

what’s in it?

stamps: papertrey ink botanical silhouettes

ink: versafine onyx, su sahara sand, rose romance

paper: papertrey ink soft stone, rustic cream, my mind’s eye blush

accessories: pti love lives here die, my favourite things butterfly, gems, twine, buttons

Merry Christmas

Good morning!  After working at the new house yesterday, I came back to Dad’s and looked at my wish-to-do list.  On it was this week’s My Favourite Things sketch :)  I am always thankful when I can fit one of these in :)  It had a tag so I couldn’t resist even if I tried :)  I don’t have any MFT Christmas stamps so I used the note paper stamp from Own Your Own Story.  It’s not much MFT, but I tried!  I’ll leave you with a few new house photos, one of which shows the new Ikea furniture in the new studio, just waiting for stamps, paper, ink, ribbon, buttons and bling!  Can’t wait!!  Thanks for visiting and have a lovely day :)

 

what’s in it?

stamps: mft own your own story, verve bright spirits

ink: versafine onyx, versamark

paper: pti rustic cream, hawaiian shore, mme 12 days of christmas

accessories: pti tag and poinsettia dies, felt, buttons, bakers twine, Michaels bell, stitching, twill ribbon

 

laundry room

desk top,  desk legs, shelves, trash bin, stool all from Ikea

Joy! A Card, a Sale, and some House Pics!

Good morning!!  I’m off to a bit of a late start this morning…got a “honey do” list that I’m actually going to enjoy…moving more things into the house :)  But before I leave, I wanted to share another card I made for the Verve Release this month.  I’ve used the Sweet Scallop tag dies, both Tiny and Regular as well as the new Snowflake Tidings die that coordinates with the snowflakes in Glad Tidings.  Have you heard about the Verve Black Friday sale on now until tomorrow?  Check it out HERE!

And lastly, things continue to move along at the house and finally yesterday I felt I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.  The plumbers fixed the kitchen taps so I can keep the ones I picked out and desperately love!  The backsplashes in all the rooms are complete AND the carpenter doing our staircase railing showed up and started putting the posts in…AND he should be back today to continue…the railing is another must have before occupancy!!  So Moe was very excited…PLUS I had a handsome and handy man help put some things together in the studio…here are the photos.  Thanks for popping by!!

Desk was put together late last night…will take a photo today…it makes me REALLY smile :)

what’s in it?

stamps: Bright Spirits, Glad Tidings (Verve)

paper: sahara sand, espresso (SU), white (PTI), Season’s Greetings (Echo Park)

ink: onyx (Versafine), choc chip, sahara sand (SU), tea dye duo (PTI)

accessories: Snowflake Tidings, Tiny Sweet Scallop, Sweet Scallop Tag dies (A Cut Above dies by Verve ), wine tag and tag dies, twine (PTI), bells and ribbon (Michaels), gems (Kaisercraft), Holly Ribbons embossing folder (Cuttlebug), stitching

Many Hands Make Light Work (and a few more new house pics!)

Good morning!!  Last weekend we were able to move many of our boxes out of the storage containers and into the new house with the help of 3 dear friends.  Acts of kindness like this (who wants to move boxes on your day off?) overwhelm us and so I wanted to show our appreciation in a small way with a handmade card.  I immediately thought of the PTI Love Lives Here set.  It’s perfect for creating a “home”y feel to cards. 

 

Things are coming together at the house…here are a few updates…the wood floor is in the basement and studio now :)  It’s engineered hardwood. Love it next to Sahara Sand.

The front door is now stained!!  I love how our painter made it look like a wood door with just the streaking of the stain!  It’s a fiberglass door! Cool :)

the kitchen backsplash…before grout.  I didn’t think it would be so busy…but I think the cream grout will soften it.

Another shot of it…there will be an inset in that empty spot…some diamond tiles with dark squares.

thanks for visiting…have a blessed Sunday :)

what’s in them?

stamps: pti love lives here

ink: versafine onyx

paper: pti cream, rustic cream, sweet blush, spring moss, kraft, october afternoon and prima dps, glitter cardstock

accessories: pti doily, love lives here, banner and tag dies, twill ribbon, ms butterfly punch, gems, stitching, twine