button cherries

Welcome PTI blog hoppers!

Tomorrow's my last day of teaching before a 3-week spring break!  (I must say, I LOVE year-round schedule.)  So, hours after my last class we'll be on the road for an up-the-coast trip, San Diego to Seattle.  I haven't had much time to craft, but inspiration came from the blogs this Sunday morning!

I made a set of thank you's - inspired by Mish's cherry card post (here) and a CPS sketch (here).  I love that this sketch made me think to try new ways of cropping papers, which now I'll try again!  First I made this card:

But I really wanted to use some chartreuse ink so I made this one, stamping the sentiment in hibiscus:

At that point, I had to have a trio, so naturally there would have to be hibiscus - back to scarlet jewel ink for the sentiment:

Inside  is a strip of coordinating paper with a thank you sentiment from Big & Bold Wishes, along with a little cherry stamp.  The card front sentiment is from the Basic Grey gamma series.  I discovered you don't need the die to cut this label - just trim the frame and use a ticket-corner punch.  I also fell in LOVE with the rustic white PTI CS - that is THE best new neutral for me!

Enjoy your night, cherry bombs!

SUPPLIES:

stamps - PTI Everyday Button Bits, Fillable Frames #1, Big & Bold Wishes (not pictured, inside card), Paper Tray (not pictured, back of card); Basic Grey gamma series
paper - PTI kraft, new leaf, aqua mist, hibiscus, rustic white; Basic Grey lemonade series
ink - PTI chartreause, aqua mist, hibiscus, scarlet jewel; linen Distress Ink
accents - PTI vintage scarlet jewel buttons, cream twine

tools - Glue dots, adhesive

party thanks

These cute little teapot thank you cards were the perfect end to our Alice-inspired 'tea' party birthday (see previous post, here).  I just had to bust out the Cricut again.  They coordinate with the teacup invitations (here).  I white embossed the image onto PTI cardstock.  The swirly vellum is Michaels circa 2004 (leftovers from wedding invites.  I wrote on the insides in most of them with white in.  

 I have 3 Cricut cartridges but everything I cut is from A Child's Year - for this party there were red roses with green leaves, purple & green Mad Hatter's hats, and a banner in pink, mint, blue and purple.  

We decorated the back patio with crepe paper, balloons - half of them polka dot with big white spots, and mixy-matchy dinnerware, all in the same fun colors.  We hung a few strands of white star lights and put out some pretty tulips.

The HIT for the four-year old crowd were the cake pops.  Bakerella of course (here).  These were definitely red velvet yummi-ness.  They stand in a foam rectangle covered in a sheer ribbon.  I used sewing pins to push in a few buttons I've had lying around from making an Alice costume years ago.   

(HOW does Bakerella make the pops look so perfect???  I tried two batches - one with melted white choc. chips and another with Wilton candy melts - both times it was very gloppy).  

Here's a little gift set for Caitlyn from us - CASEd from Nichole (here).  I LOOOVE this beauty she made! (Nice how I didn't take the time to iron the recycled ribbon ;)


Alas, for more photos.  Before I knew it, the day was simply,

going...

 going...

GONE! 


CAKE POPS HINT: after you've coated the cake pops for use in the display you'll have 40-something cake pops left in a typical batch. TOO many to coat (at least, for me).  Instead I chilled the cake pops, then melted white chocolate chip, put the chocolate in a baggie, cut off the tip, and drizzled them on the cake balls.  I did the same with dark chocolate chips.  Deeelicious, easy and yummy for the adults too.

xoxo,
cch

caitlyn's tea party

4 years old - wham!  It sneaks up on you.  Suddenly your baby is gone and there's this fun little kid in her place.  We had a tea party - with Alice-y touches here & there.  The favors are one of the new templates at PTI and designed to compliment the invitations (here).

 The polka dots are white filigree embossed and the buttons are tied with 1/4" white silk ribbon.  The handles are cute, cheap-o Michael's ribbons, where I picked up the color-coordinated M&Ms (NOT cheap).  They only had dark green chocolates, which would not do, but I found green gums balls in the wedding area.  Perfect.  Gum is relatively new to most 4 year olds, so it was fun to watch them run around the backyard with their bags of candy *bad Waldorf mom* 

 

I put the Cricut to use with a sign taped to the side of our house (and not the best morning light).  There's also a little peak of the red roses & Mad Hatter hats I cut out in the upper corner of this shot (I meant to stick a little 10/6 tag in the hat but, you know, ran out of time).  Check out that amazing homemade hat gift.

The kids decorated paper bag hats - of course I took no photos.  We had a good playset sesh, a borrowed jumpy-jump, and an easy finger-food buffet.  There were pitchers on the side of Iced Cookie Tea & Peppermint Candy Iced Tea.  Everything went off well :)

More photos are coming - I just can't remember which Mac I downloaded them on to...

xoxo,

affirmations, pt.II

Well, I admit, I've been in somewhat of a funk lately - life in a pressure cooker.  But!  For the last 3 days I started doing my goofy affirmation again each morning ("I am so happy that only wonderful things happen to me all of the time" posted here), even though I felt like it was ridiculous since I was feeling so stressed.   I can only say that I have been having some AWESOME DAYS!  Don't get me wrong - it's not that every moment of the day has felt super-duper, fantastic at the time - but all in all, every event that's come to pass has led me to a happier place.  I'm brimming!

Here's a picture I grabbed today - I was reading on the back patio when Caitlyn yelled out, "Take my picture!"  She was all snuggled up on the ground, with an umbrella.  How could I resist.  Since she's been four, she's been a dream.  Two and three were a challenge ;)

valentines

Caitlyn did a great job making valentines for her kindergarten classmates this year!  I stamped & punched a scalloped circle glued to a folding flap card a la Pine (here).  We used plain ol' red construction paper.

 Caitlyn stamped the animals and sentiments herself (she turned 4 a week ago).  I colored in the little heart.

But the original art inside each one truly warmed my heart and stole the show.  She took so much time and was so careful with each picture - and there were 16 to do!

cps valentine

Papertrey Ink is hosting the CPS sketch this week, so I thought I'd play along!  I wanted to make a really fun, really bold Valentine for my good friend and maid of honor.  How could I resist 4 different patterns and stitching out the wazoo? lol

I embossed PTI Damask Designs with white filagree powder onto  true black CS, and with clear glitter onto raspberry fizz for the embellishment.  The heart stamp is from Borders & Corners Hearts.

Hope your Valentine's crafting is going well! It's a blast, isn't it?

xoxo,

Christy

emboss resist toolbox

My poor DH always gets the shaft - his birthday is just days after our niece's, DD's, and Valentines Day.  By then, I'm crafted OUT.  So, I took advantage of the recent anniversary challenge at PTI.  The technique is emboss resist which was PERFECT for my needs. I wanted a toolbox like we have on the truck (DH is an umemployed commercial/industrial electrician).  I couldn't WAIT to use the lil' tools from Daily Designs :)

I sponged smokey shadow over embossed pewter on soft stone cardstock.  The stone was a little too soft, and the pewter too shiny, so the shadow ink helped tone it down.  I also used my T6 Copic on the bright metal tag.  The orange saddle stitch ribbon is a nod to Rigid tools (orange & black) - my DH's favorite tool brand ;)  The tools are also embossed in pewter - Alli Miles, they are toooooo cute (for guy things...)

I'm lovin' this one.

xoxo,
Christy