Welcome Baby Malakai

Finally, after being overdue by a week, my sweet nephew made his grand enterance into this world this morning at 3:33am. I am over-the-moon excited that he is here! My sister Carley, and Malakai are doing well. He is beautiful, and healthy and we are so thankful to have been blessed with this miracle.

Here he is, just seconds old:




I made a card for my sister upon Malakai's arrival. I used PTI's Whale Wishes and Banner Builder, and the loopy line from Little Bitty Bird.



Supplies (all PTI unless noted):
Stamps: Whale Wishes, Banner Builder, Little Bitty Bird, Tiny Tags
Ink: Spring Rain, Enchanted Evening, Pure Poppy, Fresh Snow, Versamark
Paper: Blueberry Sky, Spring Rain, Soft Stone
Dies: Whale, Tiny Tags
Other: Copic Markers, Pure Poppy Bakers Twine, Black Rhinestone, Pop Dots

Papertrey Ink May Blog Hop

It's that time again! Time for the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop!

May is the month when many flowers finally go into full bloom after a long winter's sleep. For the blog hop this month we want to see your favorite take on flowers. You can stamp backgrounds, create custom floral embellishments, showcase unique flower center additions (buttons, rhinestones, beads, etc...), flowers die-cut from different materials (like fabric, felt, vellum, etc...) or anything else you can dream up! We are looking forward to seeing all of your amazing creations!

This month, there were several great flower and garden sets released, just when I needed them! For the end of the year gifts for my sons' teachers, I decided to make gardening buckets. I started gathering the content several months back, and was so excited to see garden themed stamps this month! They arrived on my doorstep just yesterday, and I had to dig right in!

Using Label Basics , Garden Variety and a few sentiments from The Year of Flowers Collection, these buckets went together pretty easily and were SO fun to make. I am thrilled with the results and can't wait to share them with you!

I did each bucket in a different color scheme. One is pink and yellow, and the other is orange and green. Both have the same contents - a garden shovel, garden rake, gardening gloves, a bag of wildflower seeds, and a wooden birdhouse stake. I have made the birdhouses before, and you can see that post here. To make all of the tags, I used Label Basics and coordinating dies. Each tag has a diecut using the Garden Variety dies. They are so adorable!! I added some shredding paper as filler, and made a tag for the front of each bucket that says "Thank you for helping me grow!" handwritten by each of the boys.

For Logan's teacher:









For Joshua's teacher:










Supplies (all PTI unless noted):
Stamps: Label Basics, Garden Variety, Year of Flowers Collection, Little Bitty Bird
Ink: Dark Chocolate, Berry Sorbet, Orange Zest, Ripe Avocado, Raspberry Fizz, Palette French Lilac
Paper: Rustic Cream
Dies: Label Basics Angled Labels & Rectangle Labels, Garden Variety, Tag Sale #4, Little Bitty Bird
Ribbon: Berry Sorbet Satin, Orange Zest Satin, Rustic Jute Twine
Other: Copic Markers, Paper Shred, Pop Dots, Wooden Birdhouse and Garden Tools (Target)

Little Bitty Bird Notecards

I made a little notecard set with one of my PTI favorites, Little Bitty Bird. This is a set of 8 notecards, with matching envelopes and envelope seals.







Supplies (all PTI unless noted):
Stamps: Little Bitty Bird
Paper: Stampers Select White, Teal notecards and envelopes (from Target)
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa
Other: Copic Markers

Happy Birthday Merry!

One of my friends on the Papertrey Ink message boards is celebrating her birthday today! Merry has been though a lot lately, and I wanted to be sure to send her a little sunshine today.

Merry, just a little note to pass well wishes and hugs onto you today. Happy Birthday girlie! We love ya! :) Here is a birthday card from me:



I also used this opportunity to try out the PTI Make it Monday Challege this week - Making your own spray mists with reinker. I used the Simply Chartruse reinker in a mini-mister to spray the bottom half of the card front for a pale green hue, and then ran it through my Cuttlebug with the Linen/Canvas Impression Plate for a little bit if texture.



Supplies (all PTI unless noted):
Stamps: Honey Bees, Sending You
Paper: Ripe Avocado, Stampers Select White
Ink: Simply Chartruese reinker, Ripe Avocado, Raspberry Fizz, Sweet Blush, Pure Poppy, Berry Sorbet, Summer Sunrise, Tea Dye Duo, Memento Rich Cocoa
Impression Plate: Linen/Canvas
Other: Corner Rounder, Copic Marker, Pop Dots

Paper Flowers for Grammy

My boys make their Grammy (my mom) something special every Mother's Day. This year, we made her coffee mugs that the boys decorated themselves. The directions say to simply use permanent marker, but it didn't work so well. I was worried about their artwork being washed away, so we decided to go a different route. We turned them into little planters for paper flowers. This way, Grammy can still enjoy them, even if not the way they are intended to be used ;) I let the boys go wild in my scrap bag and choose the colors they wanted to use for their flowers. Then I cut various sized flowers with PTI's Beautiful Blooms #1 dies, and stamped them with the Sending You stamp set. The boys colored some BBQ skewers green for the stems, added a rhinestone to the center of each flower for some bling, and we stuck them into a styrofoam block at the bottom of each mug and topped with some spanish moss. Grammy loved them! :)

Make It Monday #14 - Selective Inking

This week's PTI Make It Monday Challenge is all about selecting inking. I made a pint size jar using Friendship Jar. I inked up the bottom part of the jar, and then inked the mouth of the jar, leaving out the middle, which made it smaller. Then I used the solid filler image from the same set, and inked only the very top edge to make the dirt in the jar. The finished size of this card is 4.5"x4.5".





Supplies (all PTI unless noted):
Stamps: Friendship Jar, Friendship Jar Spring Fillers, Tag Its #3, Background Basics: Tin Types, Tiny Tags
Ink: Tea Dye Duo, Sweet Blush, Spring Moss, Memento Rich Cocoa, Palette Charcoal
Paper: Sweet Blush, Stampers Select White
Other: Tiny Tags Die, Rustic Jute Twine, Pop Dots

Mother's Day Presents for my Mom!

Happy Mother's Day Mom! We love you so very much!

One of my favorite pictures of my mom and my boys:


My mom knows by now that she can expect handmade goodies from me for special occasions. LOL! I got her a Lilac scented candle from Bath and Body Works. Along with that, I made a few things. The other day, I was walking through Walmart of all places, and came across a this large mason jar with a butterfly inside. I picked it up, played with it, and put it back. But I couldn't stop thinking about it so I went back and got one for Mom. It is the coolest thing. The butterfly is not real, but it sure looks it. It is battery operated, and on a very fine wire. When you tap the lid of the jar, the butterfly moves. Depending on how many times you tap it, it will either open and close its wings, or flitter around the jar. Even the noise it makes sounds so real! It is so relaxing to watch, and sometimes, I even forget that it's not real ;) I plan to go back and get one for myself to put on my desk because I could look at it all day long. It had a gold lid with the words "butterfly collection" printed on the top. I didn't like it, so I added some fabric, raffia, and a tag using PTI's Friendship Jar and Butterfly Dreams.



Along with that, I made her a framed home decor piece. It was inspired by this beautiful card by Nerina. I used PTI's Love Lives Here and Bitty Background Blocks and corresponding dies. It is 5"x5" square.






Supplies (All PTI unless noted):

Butterfly Jar
Stamps: Tag Its #3, Friendship Jar, Butterfly Dreams
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, Tuxedo Black, Colorbox Creamy Brown, Raspberry Fizz
Paper: Stampers Select White
Dies: Jar, Jar Toppers, Butterfly
Other: Fabric, Raffia, Copic Markers, Jute Twine

Home is Where the Heart Is
Stamps: Love Lives Here, Bitty Background Blocks, Button Boutique
Ink: Scarlet Jewel, Ocean Tides, Ripe Avocado, Tea Dye Duo
Paper: Rustic Cream, Vintage Cream, Scarlet Jewel
Dies: Button Card, Love Lives Here
Other: 5x5" frame

Vintage Mother's Day

I love the look of antique-y, vintage cards, and try as I might, I can't seem to get it quite right... But, I am pretty happy with how this card for my mom turned out, and I am pretty sure she will love it :)



Supplies (all PTI unless noted):
Stamps: Button Boutique, Friendship Jar Spring Fillers, Tiny Tags
Ink: Summer Sunrise, Memento Rich Cocoa, Tim Holtz Antique Linen, Tim Holtz Tea Dye
Paper: Stampers Select White, Kraft CS, My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose: Gertie
Dies: Button Card, Edgers #2, Tiny Tags
Other: Fine Linen Twill Ribbon, Copic Makers, Inksentials Ink Blender, Rustic Cream Twine, Pop Dots

The Chalkboard Technique

I love the look that the chalkboard technique gives, and it is so easy! You simply stamp your image on black cardstock with white ink, and color over the ink with colored pencil. I find it looks best with sold or simple line images, but it is a fun change from the normal white card base.



Supplies (all PTI unless noted):
Stamps: Sending You, Flower Fusion #1, Flower Fusion #2, Flower Fusion #3
Ink: Fresh Snow
Paper: True Black
Other: Uniball White Pen, Prismacolor Pencils, Clear Rhinestones

Hoppy Father's Day

Here is another card for my boys to choose from for Father's Day. :)

I used the large frog from Boy Basics: Frog Hop and the small frog from Tiny Treats: Valentine, along with the cardboard image and sentiment from My Hero, My Dad. There are 2 little frogs to represent our 2 boys :)

Supplies (all PTI unless noted):
Stamps: Boy Basics: Frog Hop, Tiny Treats Valentine, My Hero My Dad, Alphablocks
Ink: Ripe Avocado, New Leaf, Tea Dye Duo, Memento Tuxedo Black, Memento Rich Cocoa
Paper: Stampers Select White, Ripe Avocado
Other: Alphablocks Die, Inksentials Ink Blender, Copic Markers, Pop Dots