Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

It's time for another Papertrey Ink Blog Hop! This months challenge was:
(from the PTI website)
The holidays are going to be here before you know it! No matter how much planning you do, there always seems to be last minute gifts and wrapping to do! This month's Blog Hop Challenge is to create a quick & inexpensive wrap or tag that can be the perfect solution for "grab & go" gifts! We can't wait to see what you create!!!

This is what I came up with:

I found these Chinese take-out style containers at Michaels. I thought they would be the perfect size to package some candy and a gift card for the kid's teachers. I just made some quick tags and tied some ribbon and added an embellishment or two. This is so easy to do ahead of time so they are all ready to go when I need them. I can just slide the ribbon off without un-tying it to fill with goodies and then slide it back into place when I'm done.




I used Vintage Ornaments for this box. I can't tell you how much I love this set...and not just for cards, I think the ornaments are the perfect size to cut out for a super cute tag! I added some silver glitter to the ornament. (I had better pictures to upload, but for whatever reason blogger is not want to cooperate tonight!)





This one couldn't get any easier. The holly leaves are a Martha Stewart punch I bought last year. The snowflake stamp is from Holiday Treats and the sentiment is from Take a Bough.






This last one is probably my favorite! I was so excited when I saw this container because I knew the snowmen looked exactly like the snowman from Made of Snow. I colored his hat and scarf with Copics. The acetate snowflake is from Me and My Big Ideas.


Thanks for stopping by! Now I'm off to finish cleaning my house for tomorrow.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! I look forward to checking out everyone's projects hopefully later tonight or in the morning.
Melanie

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #19

Hello everyone! Happy Monday! Is everyone ready for Thanksgiving? My kids are so excited to have a short week. They keep telling me how the week is reversed with 2 days of school and 5 days off! All a short week means for me is cramming a full week into two days! UGH!

Dawn posted another color challenge for this week, and let me tell you it was a tough one (for me)!! Anytime I see more that 3 colors, I usually run the other way! Here is the inspiration photo:


I am totally in Christmas mode...which is so unusual for me this early! So, I used my new favorite stamp set Vintage Ornaments. I know I have said this before, but I love this set!! I was having trouble photographing this card...it is really sparkly IRL!




I used the ever popular Martha Stewart punch for my branch. I bought this last spring and was on a kick for awhile using it for non-Christmas cards. If you're interested, some of these cards are posted on my blog here, here and here. I still see this punch at Walmart if anyone is still looking for it.

Okay, I'm off to get some things done. I will be back on Wednesday night for the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop...and believe it or not, I already have my project done!!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Supplies (all Papertrey Ink, unless indicated otherwise):
Cardstock: Aqua Mist, Dark Chocolate, Vintage Cream
Stamps: Vintage Ornaments, Polka Dot Basics
Ink: Lavender Moon, Raspberry Fizz, Fresh Snow
Other: Gems-unknown, Glitter-Stampendous, Martha Stewart Punch


Thanks for stopping by!

A new challenge site!!

It is so quiet around here...my kids are off to their grandparents for the weekend. I couldn't resist the opportunity to make a card or two while they're gone! I discovered a new challenge site called Just Us Girls...or JUGS for short! That just makes me laugh!! Anyway, they posted a sketch challenge today that I couldn't resist!





I have gotten some really cute Christmas stamps from Papertrey Ink, but this one called Vintage Ornaments has to be my favorite!

The ornaments are really glittery IRL...


Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Supplies (all Papertrey Ink, unless indicated otherwise)
Cardstock: Kraft, Dark Chocolate
Stamps: Vintage Ornaments, Signature Christmas, Polka Dot Basics 2
Ink: Pure Poppy, Fresh Snow, Dark Chocolate
Other: glitter-Martha Stewart, ribbon- unknown, button and twine-Papertrey Ink

Halloween

Hello everyone! I give up on making excuses on why I can't seem to post regularly on this blog...I could mention that my husband went out of town for a week returning the day before Halloween and that we hosted friends and family on Halloween, oh and I can't forget about Avery's tonsilectomy surgery last Monday, but the reality is that everyone has busy lives so I won't bore you with the details!!! I think we could all benefit from a few more hours in the day....or night {wink}!! So anyway, I hope everyone had a fun, safe Halloween. We had our family and some friends over and did some trick or treating in the neighborhood. Since we only have about 8 homes in the subdivision so far, we went up to a local church who was having a trunk-or-treat....Totally new concept to me!!! So much fun!

Here is a picture of my kids:



And I can't resist posting a picture of my brother's family of vampires. My SIL, Jen, is so creative and gets the whole family involved in dressing up....isn't this awesome!!!



I'll be back with a second post...I discovered another challenge site!!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

It's been too long!

Hello everyone! I'm still here...I hate it when life gets in the way of blogging! This time of year is always busy, but this year seems especially hectic! Between school and extra activities, we just don't hold still very long. I'm sure most of you can relate! Fortunately, we have avoided the flu bug so far {knock on wood}, but friends and family have not been so lucky. I'm hoping for a quick recovery for all of them and anyone else who has been plagued with this nasty bug!
I got some new stamps and have been dying to break them out and finally got a chance to participate in Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #18. I love her color challenges! She has such an eye for color and always has some amazing combo's...plus she uses Papertrey Ink colors which is just an added bonus!! There are a few other color combo challenge sites out there, but most reference Stampin' Up colors {which I don't have} so it makes it harder to match up colors.




I also used The Pink Elephant Challenge #37 for this card. It was a sketch challenge this week.
If you haven't checked out this challenge site...you should! One of the girls, Robin, is offering some FREE Halloween digi stamps available to download and they are super, super cute!! Go check it out....the info is in the link above.

I love these colors for Christmas...and since I'm up to my eyeballs in all things Halloween right now, it's a nice change!!



Thank for stopping by!
Melanie

Supplies {all Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise indicated}:
Cardstock: Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Rasberry Fizz, Vintage Cream
Ink: New Leaf, Dark Chocolate
Stamps: Tree Trimming Trio, Signature Christmas, Text Style
Other: EK Success edge punch, Queen and Co. gems, sewing machine

WCMD Challenge #1: JAPAN

Paper crafters all over the world celebrated World Card Making Day this past Saturday. My favorite stamp company, Papertrey Ink, celebrated by hosting a day of challenges using inspiration from all around the world. I was really, really excited, until I realized that I had lost the charger to my camera battery! :( With a dead battery in my camera and no way to upload pictures of cards, I gave up on making cards for these challenges. Fast forward to today (Monday)...I found the charger ( under my bed...go figure!) at about 4:00pm with a deadline of 7:00am Tuesday. Yikes! Okay, I have never in my life made 4 cards in one night, but I was determined! So, here goes....

WCMD Challenge #1: JAPAN



Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

WCMD Challenge #2: MEXICO

I'm back with the second of the four challenges hosted by Papertrey Ink.

WCMD Challenge #2: MEXICO



Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

WCMD Challenge #3: INDIA

Here is the third of the four challenge cards for the WCMD challenges that Nicole posted on Saturday.

WCMD Challenge #3: INDIA



Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

WCMD Challenge #4: AUSTRALIA

Here is the fourth card for the challenges posted on Nicole's blog for Papertrey Ink's celebration of World Card Making Day.

WCMD Challenge #4: AUSTRALIA



Well, that's all of them! I still can't believe I made four cards in one night...and it's only 11:40 pm!! That is a record for me! I admire those who can make a card in 10 minutes...because that is not me!
Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

An update and some exciting news :)

It has been such a crazy few weeks here, sorry my blog has been a little neglected! First, things are going well after surgery....actually, much better than I expected. I still have residual nerve damage in my left leg, but my doctor is optimistic that the nerve will repair itself over time. So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
We celebrated Avery's sixth birthday over the weekend. We had a Luau...so much fun! Unfortunately, I couldn't find my camera battery charger so I don't have pictures of my own. I was able to use my mom's camera, so I'm just waiting to get a disk from her and I will post pictures then. We had so much fun and I can't believe my baby is six!!!

And then....the most exciting news yet....I earned an Honorable Mention for Papertrey Ink's September Guest Star Stamper contest for the category Best Halloween Project! This was my entry here. I can hardly contain myself!!! Anyone who knows me IRL, knows that I live for Papertrey Ink stamps.... I love this company!!! So, this is a huge honor for me!! You can see the announcement on Nichole Heady's blog here. If you have time, be sure to check out all of the great projects.
AND....If that weren't awesome enough....I was choosen for Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge spotlight w/ this card! I am totally excited about this...there were over 200 entries and some amazing cards in this challenge! You can check out Dawn's announcement and see the other cards that made the spotlight here.

If you've made it this far, thanks for sharing in my excitement!!! I hope to post some cards soon. After having two sick kids over the last few weeks, I have finally caught a bug myself. So between that and trying to catch up on work from being out with surgery I haven't had much crafty time lately!

Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Witch's Broomstick

Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year! I had first seen these cute broomstick gift bags last year while browsing the internet and I have been wanting to try one myself ever since. I followed the instructions from Martha Stewart's website here. I made the tag with two older Papertrey Ink Halloween stamp sets. The witch and circle scroll on the 'moon' are from Spooky Sweets II. The witch was stamped first in black ink and then stamped over that with Versmark and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. The bats are heat embossed on True Black cardstock and then cut out and attached to black wire so they would appear to be flying around the moon.

Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Supplies (all Papertrey Ink, unless indicated)
Cardstock: Stampers Select white, True Black, Summer Sunrise, Raspberry Fizz
Stamps: Spooky Sweets and Spooky Sweets II
Ink: True Black, Versamark
Other: Marvy scallop circle punch, raffia, black craft wire, paper lunch sacks, twine, stick

A couple of new challenges

...at least new to me! I'm so excited to have found a couple of new challenge sites. I have combined the two on this card. The first is called Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenges and here is this weeks sketch:


and the second is a site called Pals Paper Arts and their challenge this week is to create something with a Halloween theme. That I can do!! I love Halloween!
So, here is my card that fits both challenge criteria:

I embossed the moon with a Cuttlebug embossing folder (not sure the name...maybe spots and dots?) and then I lightly sanded the surface to give more of a contrast to the moon 'craters'. Everything else is pretty self explanatory!



Anyway, I am looking forward to checking out these blogs a little more in depth...looks like some great stuff!!
BTW, for those of you who know me IRL and are wondering how I'm making cards, posting on my blog and blog surfing three days after back surgery when I am only supposed to sit for 30 minutes a day...well, the computer part is easy to explain-I'm just using my laptop in bed. As far as the card making...the island in my craft room is countertop height... So no worries!!

Edited to add: Okay, so I missed the deadline for the Pals Paper Arts Halloween challenge. Oh well! It was the inspiration for the theme and I'll blame not realizing it was last weeks challenge on the pain medication! *wink*

Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Supplies (all Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise indicated)
Cardstock: Dark Chocolate, Kraft, Vintage Cream
PP: Autumn Abundance
stamps: Boo To You
Other: Dark Chocolate polka dot ribbon, Cuttlebug embossing folder

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #16

I love these colors! Okay, I know I say that just about every time, but I really mean it this time! I had a few ideas immediately, but ended up using my new Autumn Abundance stamp set from Papertrey Ink. Of course, getting to play with my Copics was an added bonus! So, here is what I came up with for the Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #16:


I know its kind of hard to see in the picture, but I stamped the little acorn cluster with VersaMark on the dark chocolate layer.


I intentionally left off the sentiment so that I could use is for whatever need may arise. I thought it would be pretty easy to add one in the white space around the flowers. I hope it doesn't make the card look unfinished for the purpose of the challenge!
Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Supplies (all Papertrey ink, unless otherwise indicated)
Cardstock: Kraft, Vintage Cream, Dark Chocolate
stamps: Autumn Abundance, Background Basics: Text
Ink: Dark Chocolate, Vintage Touch tea dye duo, Versamark: Tsukineko
Other: Summer Sunrise saddle stitch ribbon, wood button, button twine, Nestabilities Label 3 die

The Pink Elephant Challenge #29

This week The Pink Elephant challenge #29 was a great sketch and I happen to have some time to play along!


I had so much fun with this card...I got to use some new goodies. I used my Copic markers for the first time and all I can say is OMG! ...These little markers are addicting! Now I want more stamp sets that have images that can be colored. This could get very expensive!! I did use a new stamp set from Papertrey Ink that was super fun to color. The polka dots are heat embossed.

Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Supplies (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise indicated)
Cardstock: Rustic Cream, Scarlet Jewel
stamps: Autumn Abundance, Polka Dot Basics
Ink: Scarlet Jewel, Versamark
Other: Scarlet Jewel button, button twine, Nestabilities-Label 3, Clear embossing powder, Copic markers

Avery's new 'do!

I'm having trouble with my Facebook...all of the sudden I can't comment or upload photos. Ugh!! I hate computers! Anyway, Avery got her hair all cut off and I couldn't be more excited! She is not a morning girl and getting the knots brushed out of her hair before school was no easy task! So, here she is...4" of hair lighter:





How cute is she?? Love this girl!

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #15

Here is my card for Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #15:


I loved the colors she choose for this challenge! They remind me of sherbet ice cream. Yum! I bought the Little Lady stamp set from Papertrey Ink to make Avery's birthday invites/thank you's for her birthday last year and haven't touched it since! I stamped the body in Vintage Cream ink on Melon Berry cardstock and then after it dried, stamped the spots with Melon Berry ink on top. I scored the ladybug down the center of the wings and bent them down and adhered it with foam dimensionals. I stamped the antenae directly on the Bitty Box paper so I didn't have to cut them out.
Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Supplies: (all Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: Vintage Cream, Melon Berry
PP: Bitty Box
Stamps: Little Lady, Pond Life (sentiment)
Ink: Vintage Cream, Melon Berry
Other: Buttons, cream button twine

My First Pink Elephant Challenge!

Just a quick post for The Pink Elephant challenge. The challenge was to design something with a fun summer theme!










We are having a Luau for Avery's birthday party this year. This is the invitation and party favor bag and table place cards, which I will make for each of the girls. The little "purse" is a MyTimeless Template from Papertrey Ink. These downloadable templates make such easy work of creating little favor bags. I seriously love them!! I have some other ideas, but this is all I could get together for the challenge deadline. Now for the mass producing...Ugh!!
Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Luau Birthday Supplies
Stamps: Garden Isle: Lizzie Anne Designs; Fresh Alphabet (place card name): Papertrey Ink
Ink: Dark Chocolate and Hibiscus Burst: Papertrey Ink; black Stazon
Cardstock: White, Hibiscus Burst: Papertrey Ink
DP: Bitty box: PTI; stripe: unknown
Other: My Timeless Template-Petal Pocket: Papertrey Ink, Copic markers, Hibiscus Busrt ribbon-Papertrey Ink, Button twine-Papertrey Ink, EK Success paper edger, sewing machine

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #14

Hey everyone! Just wanted to pop in with a card for Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #14. I've been a little missing in action lately... My back is acting up again...ugh!! So, Tuesday I meet with my doctor again and go over my options. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that surgery isn't the only one...I don't think I can go thru that again. Anyway, here is my card for the challenge:

{all supplies Papertrey Ink}

Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #13

I had some time today to make a card for Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #13. Another fun color combo!


Here is my card:

{click on picture to enlarge}

I love the quilted look to this card and I think it would make the cutest baby cards. Unfortunately, I don't need baby cards very often so I will have to adapt it to other kinds of cards. I'm actually on a kick right now and a few of the next cards I have to post are "quilted" in some way. This is probably my favorite little bird from Bird Watching Additions and I think he looks so lonely sitting on that branch all by himself!
Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Supplies (all Papertrey Ink, unless noted otherwise)
Cardstock: Stampers Select white, Berry Sorbet
PP: Pink Patterns, Bitty Dot Basics, Bitty Box Basics
Stamps: Bird Watching Additions, Out on a Limb, Mega Mixed Messages
Ink: Dark Chocolate, Pure Poppy, Spring Moss
Other: Berry Sorbet and Spring Moss buttons, button twine, Spellbinders Label 3 Nestibilities, sewing machine

Remphry Family BBQ

This past Sunday we invited James' family over for a BBQ and a day of swimming. We had so much fun! The boys {and by boys, I mean the adult 'boys'!} spent the better part of the day trying to hurt themselves on the diving board. I'm sure they regretted it the next day...I know James was a little sore! We had a great turnout... we were only missing two of James' cousins and their spouses and James' nephew. The weather was beautiful and I think everyone had a really good time just hanging out. Hopefully, we can do it again before the summer ends.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Our Backyard Oasis

I'm so excited to post some pictures of our *new* backyard. We couldn't be happier with the way it turned out. Don't get me wrong there is still plenty to do, but it's to the point were we can sit out back and enjoy watching the kids swim or listen to the waterfall and really just feel a sense of accomplishment.

This is the view from the patio looking towards the waterfall which sits in the back, right corner of our property:


This next picture is also taken from the patio looking further to the right:


This one is still from the patio just looking off to the left {we love this view!}:

And finally a close-up of the waterfall:


I didn't take any pictures of the patio because all of our furniture is not in yet, so I'll save that for another day.
If you're interested... I posted a few pictures of the progress here and here. It has been a long, painful process, but so worth it in the end!

Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie