Papertrey Ink March Blog Hop

Hi dear friends!!!  It's my favorite time of the month!!!  It's time for the Papertrey Ink March Blog Hop!!!  I just love this month's challenge and I was fortunate enough to receive a brand new package from Papertrey Ink just in time for the Blog Hop!! Whooo hoo!!  I had a blast using my new stamps!!  Here's the challenge:

and here's my take on the challenge:

I just love these stamps and dies.  They will be so fun to work with any color scheme but I am completely loving the primary colors!!  So fun and folksy!!  I used clear embossing powder on the sentiment and Glossy Accents on the flowers!! Thank you PTI for such a fun challenge!!

PTI Supplies Used:
Embellished Elegance Stamps and Dies
Stamper's Select White Cardstock
Pure Poppy Patterned Paper
Pure Poppy, Harvest Gold, and New Leaf Inks
Other Supplies:  Heidi Swapp Teal Ink, Clear Embossing Powder, Glossy Accents and Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

CupCards to Go Spring KIt

Hi there dear friends!!! I am soooo excited to share the CupCards to Go Spring Kit with you!! Whooo hooo!  It's an absolutely amazing kit and I went wild in my little studio and couldn't stop creating!!  I hope you make sure to get in on this kit!! You're gonna love it too!  The first card I'm sharing with you today is my favorite!!  I just love those sweet little birds!!  The challenge this month is to make a card with a Sunshine Theme and it wasn't hard to do with this kit!

I die cut a circle in the top middle of the card and added a sunshine die cut to layer under the circle. I love the depth it created!!  I added some birdies and sentiment sticker to complete the focal point. Such an easy card and yet so effective!!

The next card also has a sunshine theme.  I just love the tag included in the kit and it totally sets the tone for the whole card.  I used one of the circular stickers to create the feel of the sun peeking out from behind the clouds.  Don't you just love those clouds?

This card is all about color and brightening up someone's day.  I love all the stickers in the kit and the little flags add just the right touch!

The next card just screams Hello Spring!!  I added some texture to the base and some stamping to add some color.  I don't know about you, but after this long cold winter, I am needing lots of color in my life!!

 I added a die cut and stamped butterfly and hello die cut to the goodies included in the kit!!  Sooo fun!

I couldn't get enough of the bright and cheery colors, so I created this card with a yellow die cut chevron base.  The yellow stripes on the side make my heart sing!!

I layered the beautiful floral sticker on top of some canvas flags that are included in the embellishment kit!! I love them!!

All of the cute little stickers and ribbons inspired me to create a series of tags to give to someone special with the stickers and papers in the kit.  I created a little envelope out of vellum and I stamped and embossed a little seed packet motif on the front.

Here's a close-up of the little seed packet embellished with a gorgeous flower from the kit.

The next card is a quick and easy card based on the sketch for this month.  The butterfly is simply spectacular, don't you think?

I used several Stickers to compliment the design and to add color!  Love those sentiment stickers!!

I used up some of my scraps to create this quick and easy card to finish out my kit!  I love using up my scraps and the sweet little layered hello banner pin was the perfect embellishment!

Each and every card was a joy to create!! I love CupCards to Go!! Sonda puts together the sweetest kits ever!!

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you a wonderful day!!
Kristii

This is the Time - Make it Monday #155 Make Your Own Confetti

Happy Sunday sweet friends!!  I knew the minute my friend Audrey mentioned this week's MIM Challenge, I was going to have to participate.  Danielle Flanders made the cutest card using die cuts and I was completely inspired.  I wanted to make confetti using something more than just generic confetti and the beautiful Papertrey Ink Hands of Time stamp set came to mind and so idea came to life.  The passing of time.  Confetti numbers.  A little gold to add class and sophistication.
Here's my idea come to life:

 I started by stamping the sentiment on the paper.  I knew where I wanted the sentiment to be and I planned to watercolor the background, so it worked best to stamp the sentiment first.  I stamped the clock face with Versamark and heat embossed with fine white embossing powder.  I water colored the background with a light aqua hue and then I stamped and water colored the florals.  I just love the Garden Grace florals!! They are so fun to watercolor!

I die cut the confetti with PTI's Number Time Trio Dies, Star Gazer Die Collection, Heart Stitches Dies, and the very top of the Front and Center Die.  The clock hands are die cut from Gold Foil Paper.

The inside of the card contains a familiar quote that supports the passing of time theme as well as the sentiment.  I can't tell you how much fun I had making this card!

Supplies used:
Papetrey Ink Hibiscus Burst and Stamper's Select White Cardstock
Papertrey Ink Garden and Hands of Time Stamps and Dies
Reeves Water Colors
Bazzill Gold Foil Cardstock
Papertrey Ink Chevron Cover Plate
White Embossing Powder
Papertrey Ink Aqua Mist and Berry Sorbet Ink
Hand Dyed Seam Binding Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by!!
Wishing you a wonderful and crafty week,
Kristii

Just for Fun!!

Hi there dear friends!!  It's been a while since I have posted and I am so excited to say that I finally found my mojo!!  I have been so busy with work and updating our house that I haven't had a lot of time for crafting.  I just gotta say it feels so good to get my creative juices flowing again!!  Today I have a little card I made just for fun using Papertrey Ink's Garden Grace Stamps!! I love these stamps and I know I will be using them again and again!!

I sprayed the base layer with Heidi Swapp Blush Color Shine and Stencil Set.  I stamped the florals with the Pink Ink Pad from Heidi Swapp and I stamped the leaves with Papertrey Ink Limeade Ice. I watercolored the inside with various Papertrey Ink Pads.  The new Papertrey Ink Luxe Letterpress sentiment is promising to be one of my all-time favorite Happy stamps!  It is supposed to be stamped at an angle, but I rebelled and stamped it straight across.  I love it!!  It's even better stamped with Heidi Swapp's Pink Ink!!  I topped off the card with a hand dyed seam binding ribbon.  I can't wait to give it away!!

Supplies Used:

PTI Garden Grace Stamps and Dies

PTI Luxe Letterpress Stamps

PTI Stamper's Select White Cardstock

PTI Sweet Blush, Summer Sunrise, Hawaiian Shores, Limeade Ice, and Orange Zest Inks

Heidi Swapp Pink Ink

Heidi Swapp Star Stencil Set

Heidi Swapp Blush Color Shine

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Have a wonderful evening!!

Kristii

Papertrey Ink MIM #149: Glitter Embellishments

Happy Sunday sweet friends!! It's been a great weekend and I am so excited to say I've been a bit crafty!!  I got my new PTI Doodlie-do stamps and just had to make a quick project and since this week's MIM project had to do with Glitter, I didn't need any more persuasaion!!

Make It Monday #149: Glitter Embellishments

I started off by stamping the Doodlie-Do flowers onto vellum with Versamark Ink and the added fine white embossing powder and heat set them.  I die cut the image with Sweet Blush and Simply Chartreuse papers and layered the embossed images on top.  I added coarse crystal glitter to all of the centers to go with the theme of the challenge.  To make the base panel, I picked up some Heidi Swapp Blush Colorshine and Stencils at Michael's and sprayed the the diagonal lines onto Stamper's Select white paper.  I am just loving the stenciled technique for backgrounds!! It's so fun and so easy to create custom backgrounds for any project!!

Supplies Used:
PTI Stamper's Select White, Simply Chartreuse,  and Sweet Blush Cardstock
PTI Vellum Cardstock
Heidi Swapp Stencil
Heidi Swapp Blush Color Shine
PTI Doodlie-Do Stamps and Dies
Martha Stewart Crystal Glitter

Wishing you a creative day!!

Kristii

Pink Persimmon Sewing Notions and Classic Pattern

Happy Friday Dear Friends!! Are you ready for some classic vintage goodness?  I am loving Pink Persimmon's new Classic Patterns and Sewing Notions stamp sets!!  They are absolutely awesome and very easy to work with!!  I made a rather clean and classic card using these stamps and it's one of my favorites of the year!!

I embossed the Classic Pattern stamp onto some vellum.  This technique makes my heart so happy and even happier in gold!!  I also embossed the sweet little button under the scissors on vellum in gold!  The measuring tape and pink button are embossed using pink zing powder!  Gotta love pink embossed images!  I also embossed the scissors in gold onto white paper.  It's a little more crisp than the embossed images on the vellum are.  The spool topper is stamped with black ink on gold paper and the effect is exactly what I was looking for!! Love the gold and pink combination!!  Doesn't it make your heart sing???  I typed out the sentiment in PSE, printed it and then die cut the image.

Supplies used:
Pink Persimmon Classic Pattern and Sewing Notions
Maggie Holmes Flea Market by Crate Paper patterned paper
Vellum Paper by Papertrey Ink
Fine Gold Embossing Powder
Bush Zing Embossing Powder
Sweet Blush ribbon Papertrey Ink
Stamper's Select White Cardstock

Thanks for stopping in!! I appreciate all of you who visit!!
Kristii

CupCards to Go Valentine Kit Reveal

Happy Monday Friends!!  I am so excited to share my designs from the CupCards to Go Valentine's kit. This month's kit is absolutely amazing and filled with so many Valentine's Goodies, you'll be able to make a ton of Love-ly cards!!  From Shabby Chic goodness to CAS simplicity there's something for everyone!!

The first card I'm sharing with you tonight is my favorite of the bunch.  The rub ons that are included in the kit are a part of my focal point as well as the sweet layered heart and fussy cut birdies.  Love, love, love the little quote!!

The challenge this month was to create a pocket card to hold some of the fun little Love Notes that are included in the kit.

 When you take out the notes, you find a sweet little surprise!

 I was really in a Clean and Simple mode with this kit.  Love, love, love me some white space and there are plenty of embellishments to make a handful of CAS cards!!

This card was inspired by the sketch for this month.  I just had to put the embellishments toward the bottom corner rather than in the middle, I just couldn't help myself...wink, wink!  I layered several die cut hearts to make a nice thick embellishment.

Love, love, love this technique! The top layer is made from printed vellum and I do have to say that is my favorite paper in the kit!! Vellum is my new favorite!!

If you've followed my blog for any length of time, you know how much I love shaped cards.  The beautiful Turquoise bow totally inspired this card!!

The angled design has become one of my favorite go to sketches.  So quick and easy and effective too!!

These cards came together so easily and I have more ideas on tap using the goodies in this kit!! You're gonna love it!!

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you a wonderfully creative day!!
Kristii

CupCards to Go Valentine Kit Sneak

Happy Sunday dear friends!!  I hope you've had a good weekend!! Mine has been full of creative goodness with this month's CupCards to Go kit!  I can't even begin to tell you about all the Valentine Goodness you'll find in this kit!!  I have a few sneaks for you before the kits go live tomorrow.

Notice all the sweet little heart and arrow stickers!! Sooooo very sweet!

The little heart in the next card was made with 6 layers of die cuts including the top die cut out of heart printed vellum!! Oh my goodness, this vellum paper is absolutely as sweet as can be and probably my favorite paper in the kit!!

There are even some layered stickers in the kit! I love them all!

The little birdies are from one of the patterned papers!  They are soooo cute!

There are even some tiny little letter stickers in the kit!!  Don't ya just love it!!

I can't wait for the reveal tomorrow, January 13th!!

See you then,

Kristii

Twelve Days of Christmas Day 7: Heat Embossing Vellum

Happy Saturday dear friends!! I'm a little bit behind as I didn't feel well last week, but the Twelve Days of Christmas continues!  Today's post was inspired by PTI's Make it Monday 144: Heat Embossing Vellum. I made two card as I just had to try to emboss the City Scene Stamps like the amazing Melissa Phillips did and of course I had to do a take in my own style.  I stamped the beautiful bells from PTI's Bells and Boughs onto the vellum in Versamark ink and then sprinkled the bells with Pink Embossing Powder and then I embossed the bells once more with Versamark and then sprinkled with gold embossing powder.  How fun to have two toned embossed bells!!

Just in case you haven't noticed, gold is my "go to" color this year! Everything is coming up golden!!  I used some old October Afternoon papers for the card base along with some scraps of Pink Paislee's Snow Village to embellish. 

 In the next card I used a scrap of Webster's Pages papers for the card base.  I heat embossed the village on vellum and I'm really loving the colors.  I wish the Zing and Ranger embossing powder was a little finer grained, but I'm loving the color choices, so I won't complain too much!!  Both cards use non traditional colors for Christmas Cards and I'm loving it!!

I'm going to have to play around with the City Stamps a little more.  There will be so many different possibilities with those stamps!!

 Supplies Used:
Papertrey Ink City Scene Stamps and Dies
Papertrey Ink Bells and Boughs Stamps and Dies
Papertrey Ink Rustic Wreath Die
Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White, Gold Shimmer and Vellum Cardstock
Zing Blush Embossing Powder
Ranger Red Pepper Embossing Powder
Fine Gold and White Embossing Powder
Simply Chartreuse Felt
October Afternoon and Pink Paislee Papers and embellies from my stash

Thanks for stopping by and I will see you throughout the next several days for the rest of the Twelve Days of Christmas Series!!
Kristii

Twelve Days of Christmas Day 6: Sugar Cookies

Hi there dear friends!! I hope you are having a joyous Holiday Season!! Friday night my hubby and I got our Grandparent fix babysitting for some friends of ours!  It was a ton of fun and we were blessed beyond measure!  We read books, played Duck, Duck, Goose, and watched a little Frosty the Snowman!  It was an enjoyable evening indeed!  Today we spend the entire day decorating our house and doing laundry.  Whew!  I'm exhausted!  I also baked some sugar cookies today and I used my all time favorite Sugar Cookie Recipe!

We call the recipe Nancy's Sugar Cookies as the recipe was given to us by a dear friend twenty years ago and they have been a family favorite ever since.  They are so good, I thought I would share them with you!!

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Nancy's Sugar Cookies

1/2 cup butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1-1/2 tsp vanilla

1 scant tsp salt

1-1/2 tsp soda

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cream of tartar

6 cups flour

Cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs, milk, and vanilla.  Mix together flour, salt, soda, powder and cream of tarter.  Mix dry ingredients with butter mixture one cup at a time.  Refrigerate one hour.  Roll, cut and bake 6-10 min @ 350 degrees.

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!! You can also cut this recipe in half for a quick batch of sugar cookies if need be!!

Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you tomorrow for the next installment of the Twelve Days of Christmas!

Wishing you a wonderful week,

Kristii

Twelve Days of Christmas Day 5: Repurposed blocks and Chalkboard Art

Happy Fifth Day of Christmas everyone!  Today I have a little something different to share with you!  If you have been following my blog for any length of time, you know I have used some of my sons old wood blocks to create some fun seasonal projects and I thought it would be fun to add a Christmas project to the block series!  The blocks looked like this  before I started:

I took those plain old blocks that were sitting in a box collecting dust and turned them into this:

The fun part of this project is the Chalkboard Technique theme.  I actually used a free printable on one of the blocks and I used Papertrey Ink Stamps on the other one.  The honest truth is they are both easy and fun to make, it just depends on how much time you have and what sentiment you want.  I spent an hour tonight loading up fonts for the chalkboard technique so that I can make some wall art in the next few days.  I really want to put my spin on the whole digital side of this technique, it's just going to take me a little bit of time to put it all together.  In the meantime, I Googled free chalkboard printables and you would be amazed at how many free printables there are out there!!  The sky really is the limit with this technique!  The first block I have featured here is the stamped block.  I used PTI Photo Finishers stamps along with a sentiment from Stylish Sentiments: Holidays.  I stamped them with Versamark ink onto some Glitz Design Patterned paper and embossed the images with ultra fine white embossing powder.  Then I took a dried wipe and dabbed it on a white ink pad and added some white highlights like you would find on a chalkboard.  I added a nice big red bow and some pretty little embellishments to finish the little package.

 For the second block, I used a free printed chalkboard from this site.  I resized the printable in Photoshop so that it would fit on my block.  I printed the image and added some white ink just like I did on the stamped image.  I embellished with a big red bow, snowflakes and holly leaves.

I hope this inspires you to look around the house and repurpose some of those things that are collecting dust and make something pretty with them!!  It is so fun and very cost efffective too!!

Supplies Used:

Wood Blocks

PTI Photo Finishers and Stylish Sentiments Holiday

Versamark Ink

Ultra Fine Embossing Powder

Snowflake Dies

PTI Holly Jolly Dies

PTI Peace be Still Dies

Ribbon, Bells, and Boughs from my stash

Thanks for stopping by and joining in the fun of the Twelve Days of Christmas!!

Kristii