paper dolls #48 - wild things

I'm hosting Paper Dolls Challenge #48: Find-a-File and my hunt for forgotten files led me to the adorable Finger Puppets template for Tiny Treats: Birthday.  I needed something special for my six year old who's put up with a year of my attention diverted to nursing twins.  So, for my darling daughter:

These wool felt wild things were fun to hand-stitch while the boys romped about.

For the card, 1" rainbow strips align so the same animal doesn't have to touch.  I know.  The monkey's foot had to get masked off to fit.  Sorry, buddy. :)
 
The die-cuts are paired like on the puppets: lion (HG & MB), hippo (H & HS) & monkey (SC & PP/RV).  I debated about the little strip of white on the bottom - cut it or leave it?  In the end it stayed because it looks like hippo's teeth (but I hit it with Bitty Dots II in melon berry).

 
That tiny loopsy stamp on TT: Birthday makes the perfect stitches!

And, the puppets:

I'd have used pink baker's twine if I had it, but instead it's DIY with PTI button twine & a hot pink Sharpie.  The whiskers are actually much stiffer which I like better.

Beady eyes, chunky teeth!
FYI, hibicus felt is REALLY bright pink (much brighter than the cardstock).  

 

 Royal velvet was too dark for the card, but perfect for making the pink stitches Pop!


Do you have an download, template or digi paper you've been meaning to try?  If so, take the challenge at the Paper Dolls blog - you have until June 9th!


Thanks for stopping by!
xoxo,
Christy

SUPPLIES:

stamps - PTI Tiny Treats: Birthday, Borders & Corners: Circle, Polka Dots Basics II

ink - PTI smokey shadow, melon berry; Versamagic eggplant

paper - PTI hibiscus, melon berry, harvest gold, simply chartreuse, hawaiian shores, plum pudding, stamper's select white 

dies - PTI Mat Stack 5, By the Numbers, Limitless Layers 1 3/4" circle, Large Ric-rac

accents - PTI vintage buttons in hawaiian shores, hibiscus, royal velvet; PTI button twine;  PTI felt in hibiscus, melon berry, harvest gold, simply chartreuse, hawaiian shores, royal velvet, white; pink DMC floss; black beads

Cosmic CASE

Summertime is party season and here's a quick gift-on-the-go idea for $15 or less.  Pick up a shovel & pail set at your local drugstore.  Then run around the store looking for age-appropriate items that are:

1. cool
2. cheap
3. tall & skinny
4. color-coordinating

My super score item - a big pack of GARBAGE PAIL KIDS.  Wow.  I collected those in the 80's.  There's also a water blaster and Twizzlers.  I considered a red & white balsa flyer, but that would have pushed the price above my budget.

 

Now the card!  I've been slightly obsessed with tag cards.  I cut the card about the size of the PTI Library Card die (3 1/2" x 5 1/2"), which I don't own because I can make it myself with a corner rounder & hole punch, and it saves me $20.  This way I can leave corners un-rounded if I want - which I needed to do on the bottom of this card.  I also LOVE the bit of ribbon you get with tags that you can finish off with a button, bow or simple knot, depending on how rushed you are at the moment. :)

The card design is a CASE from a fellow blogger - Michelle (abzzymom) @ Michelle's Crafting Corner, my PTI Paper Dolls friend.  Her original card is here.  I changed up the color, added swirly planet buttons, and put the moon & star on the outside.  I love how she put Earth in the center of the 'orbit lines' with the rocketship speeding off towards it :)

Of course I had to use the blast-off sentiment, but the front of the card was busy enough.  My, how I {love} fillable frames for finishing the inside of a card!

Hope you're enjoying your summer time fun!!!

xoxo,

Christy

SUPPLIES  - (card is 3 1/2" x 5 1/2")
stamps - PTI Boy Basics: Out of This World, Masculine Motifs, Fillable Frames #3, Birthday Basics

ink - PTI pure poppy, enchanted evening, true black

paper - PTI enchanted evening

accents - PTI pure poppy, orange zest & harvest gold vintage buttons, harvest gold swiss dot ribbon

dies - PTI Alpha-blocks, Fillable Frames #3 & Rocket Die; Sunshine Impression Plate

tools - Copics, corner rounder punch, small circle punch, hole punch
ipod - They Might be Giants

merry's blog hop

Happy Birthday Merry!  

From your friends at the PTI forum, this hop is for YOU!

I wanted a red velvet cupcake in a jar card with warm, earthy colors. The card base design is a CASE of Betsy Veldman's Night, Night Moon card (link here).   

Hard to see, but there's a layer of clear cardstock to complete the jar look.  The candle also has a glittered star topper.  I Love this look!

On a personal note, our six-week old twin boys (spontaneous & fraternal) are nursing heartily and getting more regular sleep.  We just moved them out of our bedroom into their crib in the nursery.  It's been so nice not hearing grunts and giggles all night!

Twin A is Dean Michael - mellow guy.  He's the rather quiet, long & lean, blondie boy.  Our Dean Machine.

Twin B is James Madison - the squeaky wheel.  He's the vocal, stocky and solid, brown-haired boy.  Our Budgie, Jimmy James.

That's all for now...thanks for visiting!

xoxo,
Christy

SUPPLIES 

stamps - PTI Friendship Jar, Cupcake Collection, Mixed Messages, Star Prints, Night Night Moon (small star)

ink - PTI dark chocolate, true black, pure poppy; Distress Ink antique linen, Versamark

paper - PTI fine linen, rustic cream, clear cardstock, Distressed Dots

accents - PTI harvest gold felt, pure poppy baker's twine, new leaf saddle stitch ribbon, pure poppy vintage buttons; crystal glitter multi ultrafine

dies - PTI Mat Stack 2 & 4, Rickrack Border, Jar & Jar Toppers, Moroccan Motifs impression plate

tools - Copics R29 & Y32, corner rounder, hole punch

they're hee-re

It's been one week since the birth of our spontaneous fraternal twins.  Life is good, but exhausting.  This is as big as it got:

  
Dean Michael - air lifted on April 5, 2011 at 10:10 a.m.    6 lbs. 8 oz.     19 1/2"

 At three days old:

James Madison - air lifted on April 5, 2011 at 10:12 a.m.     5 lbs. 10 oz.     19 1/4"

 At three days old:

Daddy with James and mommy with Dean - about 2 hours old.

Big sis Caitlyn holding Dean (who looks just like she did) - 1 day old

Our brood, together at last: James, Caitlyn & Dean - 3 days old

Tummy Time: Daddy, James, Dean, Caitlyn - 4 days old

Bruddahs: James & Dean (what they do when not nursing) - 4 days old

Swaddle escape artists: James & Dean - 5 days old

mm2 - b'day thanks

Here's one of a set of birthday thank you cards for our 5 year old.  She requested these colors for her party invitations (posted here), and wanted similar balloons on her cake.  The vellum sentiment strip (with defining score lines) is the look for PTI's 2nd Make it Monday challenge (link here). 

 

My heat gun ever-so-slightly warped the vellum (something old & cheap-o from an office supply store).  Still, I love vellum's soft look and will definitely use this technique again!

 

I love matching the flower from Everyday Classics with the flowers in the Raspberry Fizz Mix.  I chose three background papers, and punched a circle from the small stamped flower.  The epoxy dome and foam dimensional make it an adorable balloon.

  
For the party, all we had to do was arrive at the venue with a cake and party favors:

Inside is a cookie from our neighborhood bakery, Hans & Harry's, stapled in a small PTI glasseine bag.

Each kiddo's name stamped on the treat was a fun party hit.

Goofy grin alert!  Here's the Birthday Girl with her basket of favors, excited and waiting for the party to begin!

xoxo,

Christy

 

SUPPLIES:  thank you floral balloons

stamps - PTI Everyday Classics, Everyday Button Bits, Borders and Corners: Oval, Big & Bold Wishes

ink - PTI true black, raspberry fizz

paper - PTI stamper's select white, Raspberry Fizz Mix; marbled vellum

accents - PTI plum pudding and hawaiian shores vintage buttons, epoxy dome stickers

tools - Marvy giga (purple) scalloped oval punch, 5/8" (orange) circle punch, Scor-It mini

polka dot party favors

stamps - PTI Just For You; $1 alphabet set

ink - PTI true black, raspberry fizz, hawaiian shores, plum pudding

paper - PTI stamper's select white, raspberry fizz, hawaiian shores, plum pudding, Dotty Biscotti

accents - Michael's ribbons

dies - PTI Favor It Box 3
tools - EK Success 1 3/4" circle punch, Marvy super jumbo (blue) scalloped circle punch, corner rounder

mm1 - love

For PTI's first Make It Monday challenge (link here) I decided to make a Valentine for my hubster, a great guy and SAHD :)  I went small-scale, with TONS of 'love' sentiments (11 sets!!) stamped in dark chocolate & pure poppy on fine linen.

If I really wanted to get serious, I'd re-stamp and move all the left-side sentiments up a little to space them out more.  But I'm not.  All good, he will love it.

I tried my hand at the Debbie Olsen et al loopy twine.  It's the perfect way to sneak some fibers on a guy card.  I'm picky about what I will and won't allow.  Normally it's metal, yes.  Buttons, no.  (But these worked.)  Hemp/twine, yes.  Ribbons, no.  Woodgrain and canvas impression, yes.  Floral of any kind, no.

SUPPLIES:

stamps - PTI Paper Tray, Tiny Treats: Valentine, Mixed Messages, Borders & Corners: Hearts, Just the Ticket, Daily Designs Sentiments, Sweet Love, FF #10, FF #11, Everyday Button Bits, Fruitful Sentiments

ink - PTI dark chocolate, pure poppy

paper - PTI pure poppy, fine line

accents - PTI rustic vintage buttons, pure poppy twine

dies/plates - PTI Mat Stack 4 die, Woodgrain impression plate, Canvas impression plate
ipod - elliott smith

birthday color challenge

Today's PTI anniversary challenge was to use a color scheme - I chose Jessica Witty's (soft stone, raspberry fizz, aqua mist & summer sunrise).  I wanted something bright and beautiful for dd's 5th birthday this weekend.

I used the PTI Back to Basics Box template with Urban Prairie pp.  Inside the box is a set of crocheted jewelry - one piece handmade by one of my students!

  The card edges are double-stitched, and there's a pop-up sentiment banner, pop-up bee, and flower button.  I also gave a little dimension to the front panel.

And... yet another tag for the gift set :)  The tag matches a set of favor boxes for the party, with an added butterfly and bling.  

 Been watching Cake Boss lately - hence the stacked presents, double ribbon & bow :)  This was such a joy to make!

xoxo,

Christy

SUPPLIES:

stamps - PTI Birthday Basics, Just For You 
ink - PTI raspberry fizz, smokey shadow, true black
paper - PTI aqua mist, soft stone, stamper's select white; Basic Grey Urban Prairie
accents - PTI summer sunrise saddle stitch ribbon, raspberry fizz twill ribbon; summer sunrise vintage button; craft yarn, rhinestones, white thread
tools - EK Success 1 3/4" circle punch; Marvy 2" (blue) scalloped circle; foam dimensionals, foam tape
template - PTI Back to Basics Box
ipod - Outkast, MC Solaar

ticket birthday

A 5th birthday is almost here!  This year's invitations are coming straight from Maile Belles' blog (link here).  I had a ton to do and needed to get 'em done.  I love Maile's colors, but I let the birthday girl choose from six options (hawaiian shores, raspberry fizz, hibiscus burst, simply chartreuse, plum pudding, and lavender moon).  She chose:

For the glittered cupcakes I drew over the stamped raspberry fizz image with a fine-tip glue pen.  And I don't have hawaiian shores ink so I stamped the outline for the liner onto bitty dots paper.  No new cupcake dies yet - just old-fashioned cutting here.

Check out this adorable floral button one lucky invitee will get: 

And debossing the envelope flaps was a nice complement:

It's the perfect card for a loud & flashy birthday with games, rides, tickets & prizes at a near-by pizza 'fun-ery'. (Waldorf teachers would not approve.)   Inside the card is a strip of tickets stamped with 'Ticket to Celebrate', 'Food & Fun Party Time' & 'You're Invited'.

One thing I learned - stamping a single sentiment to fit is HARD!!!  It took me eight tries to the background right: I had to lightly draw guide lines,  and practice placing each new row (the 'ti' fits tightly under the 'le' & 'it' fits halfway under the 'a').  Ridiculous, yes, but it had to be done for Maile's gorgeous card.

xoxo,
Christy

SUPPLIES:

stamps - PTI Just the Ticket, Cupcake Collection, Birthday Bash Sentiments

paper - PTI hawaiian shores, raspberry fizz, plum pudding, stamper's select white; Bitty Dots 2009
ink - PTI raspberry fizz, true noir
accents - PTI hawaiian shores, raspberry fizz, plum pudding buttons; white craft yarn, extra fine multi-colored glitter
tools- PTI Just the Ticket die; Just the Ticket impression plate; Cricut 'Plantin Schoolbook' cartridge (for circle)

happy & sad cards

Yesterday was a truly lovely day!  Thanks so much to my family and friends (blogging & IRL) for all the love.  It was also a good day because I made a card from scratch, no sketch, no special inspiration, no CASEing - yippee!  This may not be a big deal to many of the creative and extremely productive folks out there, but I'm just a regular crafty gal :)

My one and only aunt is having a birthday, so I wanted something special.  Cards for aunts scream for florals, but I've never actually purchased such a stamp set (I know, weird).  I do have Round & Round, however, and we're originally Kansas girls so it had to be the sunflower - in golden yellow.  Also purple because it's a complementary color, and I'm loving the spring time weather here (don't hate).  The card base is from the Cricut cartridge, A Child's Year,

I also needed a card for the passing of a dear friend's father.  I did a variation on a set of thank yous from a previous post (link here).  For a masculine look I chose the wood impression plate on linen paper and inked the edges & grains with antique linen ink.  I used my fingernail to further distress the edges (looking a lot better than my usual distressing with scissors).  It's never fun to create a sympathy card, but I Iike this calming, soulful look.

xoxo,
Christy

SUPPLIES:

springtime birthday

stamps - PTI Round & Round (Fillable Frames #8 & Birthday Basics on the inside)
paper - PTI harvest gold, plum pudding, Egg Hunt patterened paper
ink - PTI summer sunrise, plum pudding, dark chocolate; antique linen Distress Ink
accents - PTI harvest gold buttons & swiss dots ribbon, new leaf baker's twine; yellow gems
tools- PTI Mat Stack 1 die; EK Success 1 3/4" circle punch, Marvy super jumbo (blue) scalloped circle punch; Cricut cartridge 'A Child's Year'

dove sympathy 
stamps - Fillable Frames #2 (sentiment), Fillable Frames #8 (frame)
paper - PTI blueberry sky, enchanted evening, linen
ink - PTI enchanted evening; antique linen Distress Ink
accents - PTI vintage cream felt
tools- PTI Woodgrain impression plate, Peace Be Still Collection die

1-11-11 birthday roll call

Oooo - a binary birthday!  I also have someone new to add to my list of fabulous people I personally know with this birth date (see last year's post here):

1. Moriah McSharry McGrath
2. Amy Harms
3. Erin Relph
4. Salma Dahir
5. Baby Leda
6. myself

7. This year a dude made the list - Tony Cirrone who work at the SD Waldorf school ('This song is about a super hero named Tony. It's called Tony's Theme... To-ny!  To-ny!  To-ny!').  

Important historical figures were born on 1-11, but that can be dry so here are some 'celebrities' instead: 
Amanda Peet 
Mary J. Blige 
Naomi Judd

One more I can't resist: Albert Hofmann. January 11, 1906. Swiss scientist in the field of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Trippy.  Makes me want to go on a bicycle ride.

And there you have it!

Today - some birthday crafting, dinner out (sorry, Tena!) and perhaps a Black Forest cake.  There's an amazing Dutch bakery two blocks from our new home - Hans and Harry's (link here).  At 7am on Christmas Eve I waited in line for over an hour to get their fresh fruit strudel.  It was awesome good.


xoxo,
Christy

quilters cards

I've had this fun little card set up my sleeve for awhile.  My mom is big into sewing so this special gift is for her.  I also wanted to recycle the PTI stamp boxes for use with card sets, so now I've got a basic design (don't miss it at the bottom of the post)!

Here's the poppy quilt Birthday card (dark & bright cards get a ripe avocado border)...

the melon quilt Friendship card (softer colors get a spring moss border)...

the aqua quilt Hospitality Thanks card...

the avocado 'On the Mend' card...

and the chocolate Marriage card:

I looooved coloring the spools on the front of the envelope, each outlined with a little T1:

and the inside & outside of all the cards looked so pretty lined up-

I wanted to find a way to box a set so you can tell what colors/patterns are in it, as well as the different occasions.  So I stamped and scored up a little stand that also helped fill the extra space in the CD box.  I also wanted to put some paper tags on the outside so it wouldn't be all plastic-y:

Here's the detail:

And the back:

I had to get a little tricky with my tag because I wanted to use the same stitched circle border as the front, but it didn't fit with the trademark stamp I wanted, so I had to mask off the 'Papertrey Ink' part.

When I delivered it to my mom, it was with strict orders that she use upcoming occasions to actually USE the cards :)  Apparently she sent one to my SIL for her birthday, so good job mom for sending, not hoarding, them!

xoxo,
Christy

SUPPLIES:

stamps - PTI Quilter's Sampler, Daily Designs, Daily Designs Sentiments, Borders & Corners: Circle, Trademarks, Fresh Alphabet, Simple Alphabet, Fruitful Sentiments
paper - PTI Tea Leaves & Bitty Box PP, rustic white, kraft, poppy, melon, avocado, aqua, chocolate, moss
ink - PTI chocolate, poppy, avocado, melon, aqua
accents - PTI rustic jute twine
tools - PTI Copic trios; Scor-tape, Scor-it mini, EK Success 3/4" square punch, 1 3/4" circle punch & 2 scalloped borders punches, Marvy 2" scalloped circle punch