Tag: make it market

Papertrey Ink March Release Feature: Make it Market Mini Kit – Bloom & Grow!

Hi everyone! I'm soooooo happy to be here to share with you today! (actually happy is an understatement!!) Today is the final day of product introductions for the March 2017 Papertrey Ink release! It's my honor and pleasure to introduce to you the newest Make it Market Mini Kit – Bloom & Grow! Betsy has done it again with another one of her awesome kits. I have every single one of them and they are like little gems in my craft room – so special to me. I know a lot of you feel the same way too. Click over to Nichole's blog at some point today to catch up on ALL of the awesome news from the past week about the new products. Everything will be available for purchase tomorrow (March 15th) at 10pm EST TONIGHT – updated 3/15! on the Papertrey Ink website. I will be posting many more cards and projects after release date! Thank you to all of you who have been excited about this new design team adventure with me – I am so grateful for your support and cheer leading! I hope your week is off to a good start and I hope I make it better with some fun things here today.

This newest Make It Market Mini Kit comes with beautiful patterned papers with a loose plaid and pretty watercolor brushstrokes. It also has a gorgeous floral stamp set with matching dies and fun stencils. The dies coordinate not only with the stamp set, but with the amazing floral bouquets that are pre-printed on the beautiful PTI linen cardstock. These floral bouquets have tabs at the bottom so you can insert them into the matching flower pots. And the sentiments fit perfectly onto the tabs! So great for Spring and Summer creating. I love this kit for bridal showers, Mother's Day cards, Tea parties and friendship cards. It was really quick and easy to make cards that look like they took a long time – sure to impress! Let's take a look…

For this card I made an A2 card base from Kraft cardstock. I layered a piece of the included blue and white patterned paper and added a strip of vellum across it. The flower pot and floral bouquet are pre-printed. I used the matching die cuts to easily cut them out. When you fold over the flower pot image, it has a slot for the bouquet to slide into. I then die cut some extra flowers and attached them with foam tape for dimension. A few pearls and a pretty twine bow – and your'e done!

After I die cut out the first flower pot, I had the idea to turn it into a place card! The flower pot stands up on it's own and it would be so beautiful at an Easter table or at a shower event! I used the PTI banners dies and hand printed the name on the banner. I stamped a couple of green leaves using the included stamp set.

Here is a side view of the place card. I used adhesive on the floral bouquet tab and attached it to the back of the flower pot!

This next card also uses the included patterned paper and the pre-printed bouquet and flower pot. This time I stamped the sentiment onto the pull out tab.

This is so cute and clever – how Betsy designed the images to work together! LOVE.

For this next card I used the stamp set and made pretty flower clusters for a clean and simple, one layer card. You could make this in any color combination and it would look great. These stamps work together very nicely in scale, and with all the little extra accents you have come to expect from PTI!

Okay, one final card! I used the stamps and matching dies for this one to create a half wreath around the sentiment. Since the sentiment is on the smaller side, I die cut two circles to frame it and make it more of a focal point on the card. The roses and leaves die cut like a dream… I added a few pearls again for accents.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. Please CLICK HERE to go to Nichole's Blog and see everything from the past week. We have all been working hard behind the scenes to make this release fun and fabulous for everyone. Have a wonderful day! XO

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY'S PROJECTS!

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March 14, 2017
It’s my anniversary? Feeling grateful today!

Hi everyone! Happy Sunday! Happy weekend! How are you?! It's been a week since I've blogged, and it feels weird to have been away so long! Thank you to everyone who sent me a nice note or left a comment about my back being hurt. I spent all last week in a lot of pain. It's the kind of pain that never lets up and it's so frustrating. If you've ever had low back issues, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The thing is, I'm super busy right now too, so I had to keep going. I started stamping standing up which helped (and actually made it easier to go grab things!) and then rested a lot. I think I have turned the corner because it is slowly feeling a tiny bit better. Thanks for the kind wishes!! I am now the expert at Googling back exercises too! LOL.

Something else has been on my mind all week… Today is an anniversary of sorts for me! I don't know if you would call it an anniversary, or maybe a BIRTH day? Today marks one year since I quit my job to become a creative professional! I think about it every day and especially so this week. CLICK HERE to read my post from last year. So today, if it's okay, I thought I would write a little from my heart. (I have a card to share too!)

Last year on this date I was a complete mess and a shambles and scared and yet excited all at the same time. I took a huge leap of faith and quit my job without anything lined up. Me. That was so unlike anything I would ever do. I am a 'low risk' kind of girl in general. But I had reached my breaking point and I had to take action! I struggled for months before making my decision and the one constant was prayer. I have been a Christian my entire life and God has always been a part of my daily life. During the hard times at my job, I had Bible quotes taped to my computer, to my phone, to my cubicle walls….in my planner… Everywhere!! It was how I survived. Prayer.

My faith was taken to a completely different level last year. I never really fully understood when people would say that in their darkest hours they felt peace. How can you feel peace when you are so tormented inside? But that is what happened. After I stopped struggling, and after I surrendered, a complete peace came over me and I knew. I KNEW. That if I jumped off the cliff I would be fine. And here I am, fine. Better than fine. Excellent, happy, grateful, wonderful! I had planned to start my own company and had a million ideas… But God sent work to me. It was as simple as that. HE sent me work. Enough work from enough people to keep me busy all the time. Isn't that amazing? I think that's called a miracle! There is no other explanation. Lots of hustle, much hard work, determination, prayer, and a miracle!

My life is so very different now! In ways that I didn't think of. There are things I miss for sure – my work friends, Starbucks, daily chit chat, and the office buzz. I get kinda lonely here in my studio sometimes because it's so dang quiet! When you've worked in an office with 100 people for a long time, it is really weird to be alone every day!! Buddy is an awesome office assistant, but he doesn't talk much! Things I didn't think of…. Saving tons of money on gas and by not buying Starbucks! LOL. Also, saving money by not doing errands on my lunch hour! Those were bonuses for sure. The things that are the best? Being creative on a daily basis, making my own schedule, and sleeping in! I am not a morning person and it was literally killing me to wake up at 5am every day!! Now I get up around 6:30 or 7:00 with no alarm clock. But, even better, I can ease into the day and not have to experience road rage on the way to the office! Also, now I cook dinner almost every night which makes me feel like a good wife. I am working the same amount of hours as I was before, but now I can work on Sunday afternoon if I feel like it… Or at midnight! My schedule is my own and it's just as awesome as I thought it might be. Truly what I had talked about for years was an integration between life and work. Lifework. NOT work/life. Not a balance, but a life in which work flows with your daily life and vice versa.

I have learned so much about myself in this past year. What matters to me, and what does not. What I have to put up with and what I do not. How strong I am, and how weak I am and that both are valuable attributes. For the first time in my life I feel like I have had time to think, and process a lot of stuff. Stillness was a foreign concept to me before. I have 'kept moving' at a fast pace since I was a young person running from my thoughts and traumas. Now I can ponder and let some things go without worrying about being 'perfect' for work the next day. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but maybe me writing this will touch someone. I have discovered that I was Created to Create and to hopefully uplift and inspire others. That is truly what means the most to me now. How can I be a blessing? It's an extension of the gratitude I feel in my heart for what I have been given.

So, thank you God, and thank you lovely people who have hired me for work in the past year. I love you! I'm grateful and honored and humbled (again). Always humbled. My life has had a lot of heartache and weird situations and I have persevered, and here I am. By the grace of God. Thank you to all of you who have lifted me up for the past seven years here on my blog. What an amazing journey of love and happiness this has been. You just never know what might happen if you believe. XOXO

Okay, so I promised you a card too! This card expresses how I'm feeling today. I busted out some supplies that had never been used and made a cheerful, happy card to share. I hope that things are good in your corner of the world today. The stamps, dies and paper are all from Papertrey Ink! The other supplies are all from Simon Says Stamp – links at the bottom of my post.

So I think this stamp set came out last Summer! EEK. I hadn't even used it yet! PTI released a new color a couple of months ago – Green Parakeet. LOVE! I used that as my starting point – the stamp set and the green paper. I die cut a Bandana Cover Plate out of crisp white paper and layered that over the green cardstock. Then I used my MISTI stamping tool to stamp the cherries onto white paper also. The MISTI really helped get the stems lined up just right!

I like how this ombre 'enjoy' word die came out! I die cut it from white paper and then used my finger in the ink pad to add ink to just the bottom of it! I might do this again! It looks really fresh. Also, it made it match the cherries! I used two colors of pink and two shades of green to stamp my images. I stamped my sentiment in brown also, instead of black because it was softer.

A pretty bow of Lawn Fawn Cord adds just another little bit of pink to the card! And, you know it…. I added a couple of enamel dots. I think that's my signature move now!

This coming week is going to be VERY busy! A new SSS Card Kit launches on Thursday and then a brand new top secret release is coming from SSS on Friday, with a blog hop on Saturday. I promise you will not want to miss that! When I'm not blogging, I hope you will keep up with me on Instagram! I try to post something every day there! You can also find me over on the Simon Says Stamp Blog (posted a birthday card yesterday!). Until we meet again, I send you love and good wishes. XOXO

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July 10, 2016
A Lovely Hello!

Inspiration is all around us! I get inspired by almost anything and everything and this weekend was a feast for my senses in so many ways. (more later) Friday I was stumped about what to create – a card, a 3D project, a tag… And what style? What images? Sometimes, in the studio, I get overwhelmed by the possibilities! Especially when I am making a project 'just because.' So I will search around my space for something to inspire me. Sometimes it's a paper pad, sometimes it's a color combination, or a stamp set.

The card I'm sharing today was inspired by all the wonderful PTI products I haven't used yet! LOL. So I got out the Nostalgic Notions kit and had a fun time creating a vintage floral card to share with you. Later in my post I'll show you some of our photos from a fun day yesterday.

On to the card! All the paper and stamps are from Papertrey Ink. I always LOVE the color combination of pink, red and light blue. It's just perfect.

I stamped a bunch of the flowers and leaves and cut them out with the matching dies, then just played around with the placement until I had it the way I wanted it. Here's a funny trick that I do… I get all the flowers laid out the way I want them, but then I have to move them to glue them down…. I take a quick photo with my iPhone for reference about how to put them back!

You can see the the flowers are popped up with foam tape for dimension…

I used the Sentiments Splits stamp set and matching dies to create the words and the opening for the words. The dies are shaped so that the words fit perfectly! Love this concept.

A lovely hello to you my craft friends!!

Yesterday we spent the day in San Francisco, walking, shopping and eating! It was a lovely, cool and foggy day just perfect for an outing. Here are some photos from our day!

First up is this beautiful florist/market. I couldn't help myself – and maybe I could have taken 100 photos, but I tried to restrain myself! The flowers were amazing, and displayed in such a gorgeous way. That's what I mean about a feast for the senses!

Then we had an ACTUAL feast for lunch! Super Duper Burgers…score! I've been wanting to try this place for a while and we finally made it here. Found a nice seat outside too. MMMMMMMMM.

Here we are, two goofballs, outside of ATT Park, which is where the San Francisco Giants play baseball. My friends totally laugh at me because I am selfie impaired. My selfies never come out right. I guess that's just me! Hahaha, and I laugh at myself too!

The reason we were at ATT Park was to hear Joel Osteen speak as part of his Night of Hope Tour. It was a completely uplifting and joyful evening. Great music, and a great message. I loved sitting outside in the cool evening weather. It is very wonderful to be in the company of thousands of people all worshipping at the same time.

And this is why I am sure that this is the most beautiful ball park in America! Awesome!

Okay, so that's what I got for today! What's up with you? What inspires you – and what are you working on in your studio? Have a wonderful week ahead! XOXOXO

August 9, 2015