What I Do Instead of Laundry

Just thought I'd make another baby card--I have a friend (who used to be my babysitter) who is having her first baby girl in a few months. I'm very excited for her. I had her in mind when I made this--a little pink, a little sparkle, and a few flowers. I also tried something a little different with the bow--just pinched it a bit. Paper: PTI Sweet Blush, White Ink: PTI Sweet Blush (new formula), SU Chocolate Chip Stamps: PTI Bitty Baby Blessings, Background Basics-Petal Power Other: PTI Berry Sorbet satin ribbon, Sakura Stardust pen-red, dimensional tape

Here's another attempt at using up scraps...Last month I made a bunch of bridal shower invites with the pink circles, and I had two sheets left over. These are what I made...One for a friend who recently lost her sister, and the other for another friend who works tirelessly in a difficult and sometimes thankless job at church that I used to do as well. Here's a tip for the circles: Use the big, open circle stamp from PTI's Polka Dot Basics, then go back over them randomly with the smaller circle to mimic the pattern on the umbrellas. I also added a little sparkle with a clear Stardust pen. Paper: SU Pixie Pink, PTI White Ink: SU Pink Passion, Versafine Onyx, PTI Fresh Snow Stamps: PTI Scattered Showers, Polka Dot Basics Other: PTI Black grosgrain ribbon, Sakura Stardust clear pen, dimensional tape

I am on a new quest...to use up the bits and pieces of stamped paper that haven't made it to a card yet. I have stacks and stacks. So I've set out to use them all up. Wish me luck. For these cards, I used the Me & My Big Ideas stamp. This set is just beautiful, with toile and damask designs, but the quality of the stamps themselves is just rotten. It makes me sad and sometimes frustrated that I can't get the best impressions, but I figured out that if I put a mousepad underneath, the extra give really helps. It's just that the stamps do not have an even surface. I can't figure out why they wouldn't, but I've been very spoiled by Papertrey, I suppose. Anywho, here are a couple of birthday cards for my stash. Both cards: Paper: PTI Lavender Moon, White Ink: SU Mauve Mist, Versamark Stamps: PTI Out on a Limb, Vintage Labels, MAMBI toile set Other: Labels 1 Nestabilities, SU silver cord, PTI Lavender Moon satin ribbon, dimensional tape, silver embo

Hooray for Anya for posting this inspiration pic. I love the colors! Unfortunately, I don't have Quilter's Sampler, but I thought I'd take a few of my favorite elements to use on my own card. I love the pinked ticking fabric, as well as the touch of silver in the safety pins. Of course, I had no buttons in these colors, so I just used circle punches instead. Enjoy! Paper: PTI Kraft, White, Lemon Tart, Spring Rain, New Leaf Ink: Versamark, PTI Spring Rain Stamps: PTI Everyday Button Bits, Background Basics: Retro (stripes) Other: PTI New Leaf Satin Ribbon, Silver embossing powder, CK scisors, 1/2", 5/8" and 1" circle punches

More Turning a New Leaf...Can't resist. One of my favorite color combos is raspberry and lime green (and the real-life flavors taste good together, too). Here are a couple of attempts with Prima flowers. I don't know which one I like better--I'm a little wary of making cards where the inside is dark, rather than white. Can people read writing on that color? It's hard to tell, but I added a little sparkle to the centers of the flowers with a Sakura Stardust clear pen. I like a little bling now and then. Both cards: Paper: PTI White, Raspberry Fizz Ink: SU Gable Green, Pink Passion Stamps: PTI Turning a New Leaf, Giga Guide Lines Other: Prima flowers, Sakura Stardust clear pen, corner rounder

I love PTI's Turning a New Leaf set. I thought I'd try some paper flowers made with punches to go with it. I just punched out the shapes with my scallop circle and smaller circle punches and crumpled them up. PTI's cardstock is so thick that I could separate the layers to make it more 3-D. I like the way they turned out, and as a bonus, if I need to mail these cards, the flowers flatten enough to go through the post office without a hassle. Love that. I'm not a sticky-outy card girl. "Thank you" is from Giga Guide Lines--another of my faves. These two stamps make for fast and easy cards. Card #1: Paper: PTI White, Berry Sorbet, Summer Sunrise Ink: PTI Berry Sorbet, SU Certainly Celery Stamps: PTI Giga Guide Lines, Turning a New Leaf Other: SU Scallop circle punch, 1" and 1/2" circle punches, corner rounder Card #2: Paper: PTI White, Raspberry Fizz Ink: SU Pink Passion, Gable Green Stamps: PTI Giga Guide Lines, Turning a New Leaf Other: SU S

I finally got my hands on PTI Faux Ribbon. I don't know why I was on the fence for so long. It's such a great set. I love the idea of making my own stripes, and the sentiments are great, too. The hard part is keeping the stamps straight, but Nichole's idea of placing it in the guide of my paper cutter really helps! Here are some boy birthday cards with Enchanted Evening and Orange Zest. Great boy colors! All cards: Paper: PTI White, Enchanted Evening, Orange Zest Ink: PTI Enchanted Evening, SU Pumpkin Pie Stamps: PTI Faux Ribbon, B&C Monogram (the dotted circle) Other: 1 5/8" punch, 1 3/4" punch, 2" punch

Here is a card I made as part of a set given to a friend for her second little girl. She's not the pink type, so I thought this color scheme would be more appropriate. I cut the rectangle with one of my Nestabilities (still learning how best to use those things) and paper-pieced the onesie, which is popped up on dimensionals. If you look closely, you can see that I colored in the tiny flowers with my trusty red Stardust pen. Paper: PTI Vintage Cream, Berry Sorbet, Chocolate Remix patterns Ink: SU Chocolate Chip Stamps: PTI Bitty Baby Blessings Other: Offray ribbon, dimensional tape, Sakura Stardust pen, rectangle Nestabilities

If you are looking for a way to help the relief effort in Haiti, here is one suggestion. The LDS Church responds very quickly with food and supplies and works in tandem with international relief organizations and other groups to provide help where it's needed. Here is an article with a link for donations, if you are interested. FYI, the LDS Church provides relief for all people, regardless of religious affiliation, and 100% of money donated will go directly to those efforts--not into someone's pocket. Read about the LDS General Humanitarian Fund here http://www.ldsphilanthropies.org/humani ... 2010a.html Let's all count our blessings today.

Seriously. What happened to me? November? I haven't blogged since November? Well, I suppose the Holidays did me in. And I don't even make my family's Christmas cards. Anyway, I really have been making plenty of things in my few spare moments, so I'll post them as I can. This card is one of a set I made for my friend who got married last month. She is pretty amazing. I used their last name initial, then his on the left and hers on the right. I have no idea if that is kosher or not. It was difficult to capture on camera, but I used a rectangle Nestability to dry emboss the middle of the card. I then heat embossed the frame from PTI's Piece of Cake. Simple and elegant. Paper: PTI White Ink: Versamark, Versafine Onyx Stamps: PTI Piece of Cake, Trajan Alpha, Simple Alpha Other: Filigree embossing powder-silver, Rectangle Nestabilities In other news: This is the picture we used for our Christmas card. Because we're ridiculous. We saw a portrait of Brigham Young thi