Papertrey March Blog Hop Challenge!

Oooooh yeah! It's the March Blog Hop Challenge over at Papertrey Ink, and the goal for this month was to incorporate embroidery floss onto a project. I love embroidery floss. I have so much of it - my sisters and I used to make "friendship bracelets" all summer long as kids...did you do that? And eventually, I learned cross stitch from my sisters. Over the years, I have made some beautiful Christmas pieces for my mom and she hangs them every year in her house. I would love to find time to make one for ourselves one day.

Anyway, I came up with this card for you all today:

The inspiration for the layout comes from the Papercrafts Go-To Sketches call for submissions from a while ago. The card base is Smokey Shadow, and there are layers of true black and soft stone behind the patterned paper. I distressed the edges of the card with my scissors.

I am not gonna lie - lining up all of those beautiful sparkly stickers took a while! And I love using more than one strand of floss to make it stand out just a little bit more.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Edited to add: Yes, that's me on the Papertrey Radio broadcast this morning. :)

Supplies {by PTI unless otherwise noted}: Stamps: Say It with Style (sentiment); Paper: Aqua Mist, Soft Stone, Smokey Shadow,True Black, patterned paper (? - will update when I get home, LOL!); Ink: True black; Other: Sparkly flower stickers, Nesties, banner die, white embroidery floss, doily (supermarket bakery section)

Long time

Ahhhhh.....good to be back. Many thanks to everyone who played along with the Papertrey Paper Dolls Blog Hop!

So here's what happened: my computer fizzled out on me last week and my friends in the computer department at work were able to fix my machine today. Good news, right? I am still getting caught up on things since I was away for work, hate that feeling.

The card that I am posting today didn't come easy to me because I so badly wanted it to be perfect. Needed it to be perfect. For that perfect someone, I insisted that it be perfect...has this ever happened to you? I made and remade it 3 times and ended with this...

Again, I am using the My Little Yellow Bicycle papers. The rounded scalloped paper is just so beautiful - there are sparkles along the dark green scalloped edging.

I love the matching stick pins too. Notice how I snipped the sharp ends off with metal cutters, so the recipient doesn't hurt herself? I really love how soft the colors are together, and how this ribbon seems to fit in so perfectly. I love polka dots! :)

I finished the card by spritzing it with some shimmer mist, which I made at home using the SU! shimmer paint mixed with rubbing alcohol. It's really pretty, and a few drops of paint goes a super long way!

As an aside, news here: I am just over the moon excited about the fact that my husband got a job after one year of not having one. I am happy for him because it seems like a great opportunity. And this weekend, I am super excited to be meeting up with fellow Doll, Amy Kolling, here in Boston...along with Christina MacLaren! Hoping Jessica Davis can join us too. Should be fun! I am really excited. :)

Papertrey Paper Dolls Blog Hop!

Hello! You have made it to one of the stops along the Papertrey Paper Dolls First Blog Hop!

The theme for our blog hop is: P.T.I., so you should be looking for projects containing Papertrey Ink supplies that start with a "P", a "T", and an "I." For my card, I have chosen Polka Dot Basics, Tag Sale Die #4, and It's Official (sentiment stamp).

Take a peek at my creation, and don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win the Made of Snow stamp set. And if you decide to leave a creation of your own on the Papertrey Paper Dolls blog, you will have a chance to win a $25 Papertrey Ink gift card! All comments and entries should be entered by midnight on Sunday, March 13. The winners will be announced on Monday the 14th on the Papertrey Paper Dolls blog.

For those who'd like to know more about me, I am 32 years old and have lived in the Boston, Massachusetts area for pretty much my whole life. I have been married for almost 5 years and we have a sweet doggie named Teddy. By day, I am a biostatistician working on lung cancer and leukemia clinical trials at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute - you can read more details about that here on my work website.

I first discovered Papertrey Ink just before Valentine's Day of 2009 - my first purchase included white cardstock, raspberry fizz cardstock and ribbon, as well as the Raspberry Fizz patterened paper mix. It's all gone downhill (?)/uphill (?) from there! LOL! I have been a member of the Papertrey Paper Dolls since the very beginning, which was about one year ago. My favorite PTI product (besides stamps) is the satin ribbon, and my favorite PTI stamp set is Just the Ticket. I just think it's so darn adorable. And it fits my style so well. ALL of the colors are my favorite nowadays...

Next up: my creation. I love making cards with the scalloped border along the top, but I decorated the top edge of this one with ribbon, DMC floss, and buttons:

Lastly, I have to tell you that the color inspiration for this card came from Heather Pulvirenti's Totally Hues Challenge. Check it out here!

The next stop on the blog hop: Katie's blog! Here is the list of everyone in our group on this Hop:

Jen (JenCarter)

Lee Anne (Lee Anne)
Laurie W. (Laurie Beth)  
Deena (honugurl16)
Leish (leish)
Amy (kolling143)  
Suzanne (*suzanne*)
Katie (choc0holic)
Laurie (In My Craft Room)
Cecilia "C" (camvds)
Michelle (abzzymom)
Sara (hiinaz)
Tanna (tfiskers)
Renee (Renee L.)
Kristin (jcmom04)
Christy (christea) 


Happy Hoppin'!

 
 

Supplies {by PTI unless otherwise noted}: Stamps: It's Official, Polka Dot Basics I, Vintage Labels; Paper: Echo Park Walk in the Park Collection, KI Memories Citrus Calendar; Ink: Aqua Mist, Blue Bayou (SU!), Summer Sunrise; Other: Summer Sunrise satin ribbon, DMC floss, Orange Zest buttons, Tag Sale Die #4, circle & labels Nesties, Jolees Jewels rhinestones:

Papertrey Paper Dolls #33 & CPS #208

Happy Sunday, everyone! This morning I went for a nice long walk - 5 miles. And even though I had an epic cartoon-style fall on some ice about halfway through, I'm glad I got out to enjoy the fresh air. My junk in the trunk saved me from hurting myself or landing on my iPod, so it's all good.

Today I have a set of baby cards to share. The newest Papertrey Paper Dolls challenge was to make a set of baby cards - one for a boy and one for a girl - that are similar to each other. I think Leish hit it outt the park with this one! And for some sketch inspiration, I used CPS #208.

I have used a mixture of patterned papers from Papertrey Ink, Making Memories and My Little Yellow Bicycle to make these cards. The stamps set are Background Basics: Tin Types and Say It With Style from PTI.

I didn't notice it upstairs in my craft room, but I am not sure why there seems to be some flower markings across the lion's face. I don't own any stamps like that, so maybe it's part of the paper? It's the same shade of peach found elsewhere on the paper. And it was my one and only piece so I can't go back and check. Oh well. Adds character! {wink}.  

 In a couple days I will be back with a card for the Papertrey Paper Dolls 1st ever Blog Hop! There will be prizes so please join us!

Reject Blog Hop

My beautiful doggy got me up early this morning, and I came across a Facebook post about Amber's Reject Blog Hop - where we post our cards that didn't make the cut for the Go-To Sketches issue of Papercrafts.

Like Amber, I haven't tried very hard to get my cards published; this is probably only the 3rd time ever. And I think the rejection is actually worse than the rejection I face at work when one of our manuscripts is rejected from a journal because a journal will write back and at least give you a reason why. And usually they are pretty nice about it - oncologists are generally nice people. Don't get me wrong, I am not sitting here crying or anything, but some constructive criticism would be nice to help improve your odds for the next go-around. Ha ha - "odds" - that's the statistician in me speaking! I've warned you before that I am a nerd.

So here we go with two cards that got the big fat NO.  At least my mom loved them!

I actually wish that I had my Janome sewing machine when I made this card because I would have loved to add a zig zag stitch around the edges on this one. Can I tell you how much I love this October Afternoon paper? LoVE!

And this card was made using patterned paper from My Little Yellow Bicycle; like the card the other day, this paper has a beautiful nylon-y texture to it. And the stick pins from Jenny Bowlin Studios are gorgeous - the perfect shade to be paried with kraft cardstock.

All of the other supplies on these cards are from Papertrey Ink, except for the crochet trim.

Thanks for looking! Oh yeah, and if you were rejected too, "Chin up, Buttercup!"

polka dotty celebration

Here is that red glitter paper again, just not so front-and-center! I paired it with the polka dot paper from October Afternoon and the Beautiful Bloom dies to make this card:

I love those Jolee's jewels rhinestones. They are the sparkliest of all the bling that's out there!

Truth be told, that is about all my brain can handle after this week. So I am making this post short and sweet tonight. I hope you all have a great weekend!!