Happy Mother's Day

Are you all ready for the holidays?! I'm getting there...a bit more shopping to do and packing!

I was able to get together with other DC-area (and beyond!) Papertrey Ink fans for fun and crafting at Cheryl's house. It was a blast!

Lovely Miss Jenn shared her new release goodies with us and I made this card!



The card was made with Rosie Posiea and Happy Day, love these sets!

Below is the gorgeous bag that Jenn made to house her white elephant gift. I was the lucky reciepent--isn't that stamping amazing!! I had to share, it's just so pretty!



Thanks for coming by!
Melissa

Card Caravan Challenge #8

It's my turn to host the next Card Caravan Challenge . Since today is both my mom and my brother's birthday, I decided on the theme "two".



For my "two" project, I made two similar cards. They use gorgeous digital paper from Sugarplum Paperie's Comfort and Joy .



I cut the papers, inked the edges and stitched them together in blocks. I couldn't bring myself to cover any of the front, so the sentiments are added on the inside.



The ribbon is from Paper Source. I hope that you'll take a look at our Challenge , and play along!

Melissa

Merry Merry Merry

Hope you're having a great weekend!

After die cutting all my card fronts from this post , I had a bunch of words cut out. So this card was born.



Super simple and easy. I popped up the words with foam tape, tied a little twine bow and added some Pure Poppy buttons.

Thanks for taking a look!
Melissa

'Tis the Season

Another Christmas card!

This one uses Bells and Boughs from PTI for the focal image and sentiment. I created the embossed background by stamping an image from Waltzingmouse Stamp's Faux Fun and heat embossed it with gold glittery powder.



Have a great day!
Melissa

Wonderful Words cards

Today I have a trio of cards that were made using the Wonderful Word: Holiday dies and the Waltzingmouse Stamps set, Say it Loud: Holiday. A great combination!



I die cut each word onto the card fronts, and then lined the inside with patterned paper. I glued each little bit (i.e. the piece in the middle of "e")back into place after the paper was adhered down.



They are simple and easy to mail! I debated about stamping something more on each, like snowflakes, but then decided to leave them as is.



Slowly adding more cards to the stack! Thanks for coming by!

Melissa

Snowy days, Frosty nights and Warm Hearts

I'm back for a quick post tonight with my card for this week's Make It Monday. The technique is Layered Background with Sentiment Stamps.




I followed the same color scheme that Betsy used, but switched out the stamps for those from In the Meadow. The sentiment is from Made of Snow, and I also used some snowflakes from Rustic Snowflakes for the background.

Thanks for looking!
Melissa

Happy Birthday

Hello! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Today is the 7th Card Caravan Challenge over at The Hybrid Chick and this week the theme is "make it sparkle"! Here's my card:



Coincidentally, I made a card also celebrating seven for my son's friend with her upcoming birthday. The card uses digital papers from the Sophia Paper Pack by Karen Lewis Designs. It also uses By the Number Die collection, Double Ended Banner die and Limitless Layers Dies by Papertrey Ink. The sentiment is from Enjoy the Ride, Papertrey Ink.

Thanks for taking a look, and I hope you'll play along!
Melissa

Joy and Merry Christmas

Happy Thanksgiving eve to my friends in the US and good evening to the rest!
I hope everyone is having a great week.

I was able to finally play around with my new WMS sets, Nordic Winter and Say It Loud Holiday. I'm in love! I heat embossed the backgrounds with clear detail embossing powder onto Royal Velvet cardstock.



I also used Silver Shimmer cardstock, and cut the snowflake with PTI's Damask Snowflake die.

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This card also uses Smokey Shadow and Soft Stone cardstock.

Thanks for taking a look!
Melissa

Life and a challenge card

Hello readers!

I hope some of you are still around...I know I haven't been posting much at all lately. I have been making some projects here and there like birthday invites for a customer, some Christmas cards, but life has gotten very busy since school started again for my kids. I joined a gym in September and have been faithfully working out as much as possible. I even ran my first 5K last Sunday and loved it! I've lost 22 pounds in the last 8 weeks and plan to keep going. Hopefully, I'll be able to find some more time for crafting and writing blog posts.


I do have a card today, though, for the latest Card Caravan challenge which is birthdays.




I used some gorgeous digital papers and frame from a collab kit called My Digital Obsession . The stamps come from Waltzingmouse Stamps' Say it Loud and Say it Loud Holiday.

Check out the challenge here .

Hope you're having a great weekend!
Melissa

Card Caravan Challenge: Homemade Flower

Hello! Sorry to not be posting much lately....life is very busy right now!

I'm back for another Card Caravan challenge, though, and this time we are to make a homemade flower. I used my PTI Bloom Builder #3 to make a pretty mum from some gorgeous digital paper which comes from Danielle Engebretson's i [heart] autumn.




The only other things used on this card are Harvest Gold cardstock (PTI), a Raspberry Fizz button (PTI), some Ripe Avocado satin ribbon (PTI) and some floss.

I hope you'll check out the latest challenge !
Melissa

Card Caravan:Color Challenge

Welcome to another Card Caravan challenge! This two-week's challenge is a color one, and here's the gorgeous inspiration photo.



My take was pretty literal! I used Quirky Twerp's Frolic and Friends for the digital paper, and cut the flower using The Cutting File's Paper Roses template. The white cardstock (PTI) was impressed with the Canvas plate (PTI), and the sentiment comes from Delightful Dahlias (PTI). I cut the green felt (PTI) with Harvest Berries dies (PTI).

I hope you'll take a look at the challenge , and play along!
Melissa

A Merry Christmas to You

Hope you're having a great weekend!



This card using several WMS sets: Musical Backgrounds, Labels 18, and Compliments of the Season. The bell and holly are PTI.

Thanks for looking!
Melissa

Card Caravan Challenge 3

It's our 3rd Card Caravan , and I'm the hostess this time!

I chose autumn as our theme, and then created this card:



It is made using Danyale's Autumn Walk digital kit, from The Digichick . I printed two copies of the pretty leaf paper, sewed one down to my layer and then selectively cut some leaves from the second to pop up. The cardstock is Summer Sunrise and Dark Chocolate (PTI).

I hope that you'll check out our challenge and play along!

Melissa

Merry Christmas from our house to yours

Happy World Card Making Day!

I was able to finally get some time making cards, and came up with these two.



I used Background Basics: Houndstooth for the background, stamped in Pure Poppy and Hawaiian Shores. Onto the Mat Stack 4, I stamped the holly image from Love Lives Here: Holiday and added the berries from Bells and Boughs. The cute stockings were die cut, stamped and added.

Hope you will have a chance to make something today!
Melissa

Sweet birthday

Hope you're doing well! September certainly has been a busy month!

We recently attending our friend's 5th birthday, and here is her card.



I cut the scoops out with felt, as well as the 5 for the inside of the card.



I used Big Birthday Wishes for the inside and the ice cream comes from Sweet as Can Be.

Peace

Happy Monday!

I've been working on my Christmas cards, as you may remember. Here's another, this one uses Background Basics: Woodgrain and the 2010 Holiday Tags.



I used Mat Stack 4 and a Fillable Frame diecut for a layered look, and added a gem to each "berry" on the wreath. Simple, and easy to mail!

Thanks for taking a look!
Melissa

Card Caravan Button Challenge

Hope you're having a great weekend!

I'm back with the next Card Caravan challenge, brought to you by The Hybrid Chick . This week's challenge is to use one or more buttons!

Here's my card:



I used Karen Lewis' digital kit Camporama . Aren't the colors and designs lovely?! I punched out some of the papers with my square punched and adhered them in this pattern after inking all the edges.

A Terracotta Tile button (Papertrey Ink) was added at each intersection, and I also added the little tag (Tiny Tags, Papertrey Ink) tied on with twine. The cardstock is also Terracota Tile (PTI).

I hope you'll check out our challenge and play along!

Melissa

Christmas Tree

Hi! Well, the sun finally made an apperance this week! Thank goodness!

I'm happy to report that I finished my self-imposed mission to make cards using each of my Christmas sets. This card features an oldie-but-goodie, Believe, by PTI.



The background (Musical Backgrounds, WMS) was stamped onto Ripe Avocado cardstock, using Versamark ink. I also stamped the tree with versamark, and heat embossed it using Gold Zing embossing powder. In real life, it's sparkly!



I colored the tree with Copic markers, and stamped the label (Label Basics, PTI) with Creamy Brown ink (Colorbox).

Hope you have a great start to your weekend!
Melissa

Another MIM

Happy rainy Thursday! I'm still making Christmas cards and Make It Monday cards! Here's today's version:



Still trying to decide if I should add a sentiment somewhere. The background was stamped using the little candy cane image from Tiny Treats: Holiday. I colored them with hot pink and red Copics, although it only looks red in the photo.

Thanks for coming by!
Melissa

Sweetest Holiday Wishes

It's Wednesday! It's been raining so much here...hope you're dry where you are!

I am on a quest to make a card with every Christmas stamp set that I own...so here is today's card using Friendship Jar Holiday Fillers.



I stamped and masked the three jars and the fillers. They all were colored using Copic markers, and I added glitter to the cookies using my Quickie Pen and Martha Stewart glitter. The sentiment, from Holiday Button Bits, was stamped onto a label from Label Basics. Finally, I tied a ribbon using 1/4" silk ribbon.

Thanks for taking a look!
Melissa

A Merry Christmas to You

Good morning!

I've started working on my Christmas cards and will have a few to share over the next days.



For this card, I stamped the triangle wreath image from Tranquility Triology as a background. I then colored the small berries with a Copic marker. The sentiment comes from the Waltzingmouse Stamps set, The Compliments of the Season. I also used Mat Stack 1 Collection for the frame, and Mat Stack 1 die and the Layerz die.

Have a great day!
Melissa

Warm Wishes

Happy Monday, and Happy Labor Day to those in the US!

I am playing along with the latest Make It Monday, of which the challenge is to stamp a background with a stamp not initally intended to be for backgrounds.

I chose one of the flowers from Daydreamer to stamp as my background.



I then heat-embossed the Modern Wood Mat for Mat Stack 4 onto Royal Velvet cardstock. I also die cut and stamped some leaves from Harvest Berries, and stamped and cut out two blooms from Daydreamer. Finally, I added the Tiny Tag.



Thanks for looking!
Melissa

Card Caravan #1

Hello! I am a member of the newly-formed Card Caravan from here to see all the cards and view the details.




My card uses the digital kit Sew Cute , a collaboration between Sugarplum Paperie, Danielle Engelbretson Designs and Mari K. And it is indeed, so cute!

I used a couple of the digital papers for my card, and also printed off the thread spool image. I wrapped some twine around the spool to make it look real!

I hope that you'll check out our challenge and play along!
Melissa

"Sew happy for you"
Paper: Sew Cute , a collaboration between Sugarplum Paperie, Danielle Engelbretson Designs and Mari K, Summer Sunrise cs (PTI)
Ink: Walnut Stain (Ranger)
Other: word processing for sentiment, Hibiscus Burst satin ribbon(PTI), Mat Stack 4 Die (PTI), Hawaiian Shores buttons (PTI), Twine

Pages with Papertrey #1

I'm playing along with a new scrapbooking challenge posted on the Papertrey Ink forum, Pages with Papertrey.

The first challenge is to use a PTI stamp set and die on a page. I made a page with the picture of my son holding his soccer trophy on the last day of soccer.



I used Have a Ball mini set, Mat Stack 1, and the Mat Stack 1 die and Layerz die. The red paper is Cosmo Cricket.

Thanks for looking!
Melissa

Harvest Berries Mania!

I went a little Harvest Berries crazy today! I *love* those gorgeous leaves and just kept on stamping. This set makes for some easy and pretty one-layer cards.



First up is a Simply Chartreuse version, with a Think Big sentiment.




Secondly, is Hawaiian Shores (smaller leaves in Aqua Mist) with another Think Big sentiment.



And lastly, and my fav of the bunch, is a pink version using Rouge ink by Colorbox, smaller leaves with Sweet Blush and sentiment from Happy Trails.

And maybe now I can try stamping with something different?!

Melissa

Thanks

Happy Saturday! We made it through the first week of school...but we still haven't added homework or preschool into the mix, so next week will be the real test!



I made this card recently and wanted to do something simple. I stamped the mat from Modern Wood Mats onto Aqua Mist cardstock, using Hawaiian Shores ink. The sentiment (from Say it Loud, Waltzingmouse Stamps) fits perfectly in the mat. I added two little flowers on each side.

Have a great weekend!
Melissa

Thanks so much

Happy Monday, and happy first day of school for us! After the earthquake and hurricane last week, I was a little concerned about what would be next, and also that school may not start on time! But it did, and I can't wait to hear how the first day went in about an hour.

I'm working on thank you cards for recent birthday gifts, and here's one I made with new PTI goodies.



I love how easy it is to stamp the background houndstooth! For some reason, you can't see the leaf images that I stamped onto the die cut. And I used the Bloom Builder 3 for that fun flower! The sentiment is from Table Service.

Thanks for taking a look!
Melissa

Congratulations on your special delivery!

Hi! We are gearing up for the first day of school on Monday...barring Hurricane Irene, of course! I have no doubt that we will lose power in my neighborhood. What a crazy week....earthquake, hurricane and what else??!!



This card was made for a friend who recently had a beautiful baby boy. I kept it pretty simple--branch from Little Birds, bundle and sentiment from Bundle of Love. The paper is from Seaside by October Afternoon and I paper pieced the bundle with some PTI paper, although I can't recall which one currently.

I've been making lots of things, so I hope to be back again soon to share.

Stay dry!
Melissa

Celebrate today and always

Happy Friday! I want to share a card I made for a friend's birthday using Friendship Jar Summer Fillers.



I stamped all the elements onto the jar, colored with Copics, and cut the whole thing out. The flourishes are from Big and Bold Wishes, stamped with Pure Poppy ink onto Sweet Blush cardstock. The two patterned paper edges were cut with the small scallop border die out of Basic Grey, Out of Print patterned paper.



The inside was stamped with "happy birthday" from Enjoy the Ride.

Have a great weekend!
Melissa

Let's Party!

Today I'm sharing all the birthday things I created at the end of July for my daughter's 4th birthday party. We held the party in a "train" party room, and took a ride on a historic minuature train in a local park. Kennedy is a girl of varied tastes: she likes cars, trains, dolls, princesses--but all in pink! So, her pink train birthday party was born!

Here's a look at her invites: pink, with more pink, of course!

Thank you notes, style #1: (and these are actually all in the mail, too!!)


Thank you notes, style #2:


Banner, of which I made three for the party:




You'll notice I added the little lion from Tiny Treats, well Kennedy is never without her "Mr Lion" (her stuffed animal, aka our third child), so I knew she be thrilled if I included him on her birthday banners. The scale worked perfectly!

Goodie bags (they were looking much less wrinkled several weeks ago, LOL):


And little Miss Pinkalicious herself (with her new pink rollerskates):


I want to say a huge, huge thank you to Deb who lent me her Train Tracks stamp set! It was a fun birthday for our little girl.

Let me know if you have any supply questions...
Melissa