December Dirty Gallery and Updates

Okay - I realize that it's been FOREVER since I've posted a thing here to my blog.  The reason is just time.  Several things have occured since my last installment, not the least of which was our MOVING!  That's right, we're now getting settled into a new house that I just adore.  It's not permenant, but for the next year at least, we're making ourselves at home, and after I get all of my craft stuff out of our friend's house and over here then that process should be complete!  I'm  so going through stamping withdrawl, even though I've no time to actually DO anything!  Maybe it's more the SEPARATION from my crafty things that is getting to me!  LOL  Can you believe that I actually had to BUY a card the other day?! 

Another big thing for me is my taking a break from MFT for this new term.  I should be back at it in July, but due to all of the other things that are going on, I just needed to step away from that DT requirement.  Kim is so awesome and saw that I was sinking a bit, stamp-wise, so she gave me that option.  I'm still (of course) on the SCS DT (Dirty Dozen) and that won't change till April 14th, when my term is up and I become an Alumni.  Oh yeah, and I forgot to tell you (in case you didn't notice ;)) that the December gallery is up, and you can find it HERE.

So, as you can see, blogging has not been real high on my priority list, with everything that has been going on.  I've sort of taken a non-scheduled and undefined break.  However, I'm HOPING that that will change soon and my mojo will be back up and running soon, now that we're in our own space. 

I'm ALSO hoping to get back into my quilting.  Dave spent a lot of time getting my quilting frame (that I got for my birthday in April) put together for the first time last night.  So now, I'm itching to get a quilt top done so that I can play with my new (enormous) toy!

And now I leave you with one of my template projects that I made for Christmas (and didn't make it to the DD gallery).  I filled this with books, and will be giving this to an 8 year old boy.  He loves to read.  The template came from PTI and the PP is from Cosmo Cricket.

Till later!  Hope you ALL have a wonderful Christmas and (if I'm not back before then) and Happy New Year!!!

xox,

Kirsten

This and That

So, of course I had to have the new paper pads and Take Note set from PTI, because that just SCREAMED teacher's gifts to me! This is one little giftie that I made...

My PP is by Jillibean Soup - ain't it cute!? I loved the butterfly theme, so I went with that on my little main image, too. The butterfly stamp is from PTI's With Sympathy set.

And this is how it opens. I finally broke into my package of magnet fasteners by Basic Grey, and put one to good use! Now I'm hooked! :) The butterfly paper is on the top flap that flips up to reveal the two striped overlapping side flaps.

I just rounded the corner at the top of both sides, and kept it simple.

Now we finally get to the paper! LOL

I just stamped the pretty butterflies on the paper with PTI's Summer Sun ink.

**You can't see it in these pix, BUT I also have a bottom flap that folds under the cardboard back of the pad and keeps the paper from falling out the bottom of the case AND enables one to refill the note pad when it runs out!!! I thought that that was pretty ingenious of myself. :)**

Lastly, here's the back. I used PTI's Trademarks set to stamp the back. As you can see, I put tiny strips of striped paper (1/8 inch wide, to be exact) on the sides, too. It's all about the little things, you know! ;)

By the way, you like my cutie new watermark that my new Dirty Dozen buddy, Karen Giron, made me!? I love it! She also made me a new one for the DD gallery, but you'll have to wait for November 15th to see that one! (I know, that's not nice, but I'm not feeling well. ;))

You know, I actually have all of my projects ALREADY posted in there! I feel VERY proud of myself! But I guess whenever you're sick, you have lots of time to post pix on the computer! LOL

That being said, I'm going to "wrap this up". I have a little boy that needs feedin'. Have a great night, and I'll be back soon!

xox,

Kirsten

Special Part of my Life

This is a card that I made with PTI's anniversary set, Everyday Classics. The PP is from American Crafts. Ribbon and button is from PTI. I used some white gel pen on the bird's wing.

Sorry for all of the short-but-sweet posts! I've been so busy lately, I've just got to squeeze these posts in when I can! LOL Hoping for some down time soon! Maybe this weekend!?

Till later...

xox,
K

With Sympathy

I had one more card that was already edited, and here it is! I used the With Sympathy set, from PTI and Taylor's sketch (76), found HERE. I'm going to skip most of the bla, bla, bla, but here is another view...

The white sentiment layer is Shimmer paper, so that's why it's not photographing well. The other white is the linen vellum that PTI carries. Butterfly is a MSL punch.

Now I'm off to go swimming with the family at my MIL's hotel! Hope you're having a great weekend. Till later...

xox,

Kirsten

By My Side

This is a card that I made for one of Beate's wonderful sketches. I love the horizontal little pieces that she designed. You can find her sketch HERE.

I used PTI's newish On the Couch and On the Couch Additions for this. I also used my new PTI Text Style set for the vertical words. I inked the edges with PTI's Tea Dye Duo. I paper pieced the couch with BG's Eva 6x6 pad. I LOVE that one!!

WOW, have I been mega busy since school has started or WHAT!? I have loads of things that I can show you, but I haven't had a chance to edit the pix. My MIL and FIL are in town this weekend, but hopefully I'll be able to get some of that done, since it's Labor Day weekend. I have several MFT samples to show with the newly released sets!

Now I'm off! Hope you all have a wonderful and safe weekend!

xox,
Kirsten

Hoot of a Birthday

My nephew had a birthday recently, and I thought that I'd use the Wise Owl set, from PTI, for his card. I also used Lauren Meader's last sketch, found here. The PP is BG's Lime Rickey, and the white is MFT's Perfect Paper Panels.

I used some SU! ribbon, and a PTI button. Oh, and there's a Twinkle Sticker in the flower center.

Now I have to run. I start orientation for school tomorrow, and I've got to get ready! I'll be working 5 hrs as a nurse, and 2 hrs as a teacher (health class for coed 8th graders!). Two brand new jobs, yikes! ;) I need to get my scrubs all out of storage, and cleaned up, and buy two dresses. I'm also making lesson plans, and getting ready to clean out my new office, and make it all organized. I'm excited and nervous at the same time.

I guess that's a good thing!

Wyatt, on the other hand, is all set now. We went and got his uniforms yesterday, and we got the total hook-up for his pants. (yay!) Those things aren't cheap! He's now playing soccer twice a week (OMGosh how cute!), and in a week he starts Kindergarten. Not sure how I feel about that, but I'm happy that I'll be there with him. :)

Okay, enough blather about me. Have a great week, and I'll have an MFT card for you soon! Till later...

xox,
k

Mother Button, Son of a Basket Challenge

And how's THAT for a title!? LOL We had so much stinking fun at CHA. I LOVE those girls, and even though we only see each other once a year, it feels, when I'm with them, that we've known each other forever!

Well, while we were wondering around the show floor, we hit the PTI booth, well, let's just say, more than once. We kept enabling eachother and talking eachother out of certain sets, and this was one of the ones that I lost the inner battle on. Since we spent so much money, but yet, didn't have all that we wanted (who could?!), the sets (such as Dawn's beautiful Damask set) started to become a sort of curse word! Not because we didn't like it, but because we didn't WANT to like it! Get it??

Well, that only grew from there, as it normally does, and then we started to think up MORE "fake" curse words that sounded more papercrafty, than vulgar! LOL Hence this title.

Now onto the card. As I mentioned, I didn't buy this set till the last second because I kept telling myself that I didn't NEED it, but after a couple of the girls decided to do a challenge with said set, Joanne and I found ourselves back in the booth with this set in our hands so that we could play along. {Sigh.}

This is Vintage Picnic, and I also used Polka Dot Basics. My PP is Little Yellow Bicycle. I love the colors, especially with the Craft. The ribbon is PTI, as is the linen thread. Flower is Heidi Swapp, and the button is MFT.


The two letters in front are cut out of another piece of paper, making them dimensional, and of course, the basket is paper pieced.

So, now that you've seen mine, make sure that you go and check out theirs! ;) The girls (SUPERSTARS, really) playing along are Joanne, Carole, Christina, Amy, and Leigh. I KNOW that you'll love whatever they've cooked up, so don't miss them!!

Now I'm off! Be back soon with some MFT!

xox,
Kirsten

Right at Home

So, I've been feeling very stampy lately, and in the past three days I've made 10 cards!! This is one of them. I used the SC240 for the layout. I really like how the card turned out. I'm kind of on a purple kick, so this card makes me happy. :) I made it for our wonderful friends, Sean and Michelle, for their generous hospitality while we're "in between homes"! Michelle is also a purple fan, so I think that she'll like this.

I used PTI's Boards and Beams because that's just the perfect set for this occasion, AND because I'm trying to ink up all of my not-yet-used stamp sets! You know, a use-what-you-got kind of deal. :) The PP is from Kaiser Craft, and I used Copics (do I even need to say that with each post??) to color. Ribbon and buttons are PTI.I think the reason I haven't inked this set up yet is because I thought the coloring would be tedious, but really it wasn't! I had fun with it! So easy to customize - oh yeah, and I paper pieced the windows so it looks like the wallpaper in the room. In hindsight, you'd probably need binoculars to see the wallpaper in all 5 rooms from the street, but I still think it's cute! ;)

And now I'm off to go post this on SCS. TTYS!

xox,
K

Across the Miles

I am constantly in search of ways to NOT forget to put a card in the mail for my friends and family's birthdays. I rarely succeed in my endeavors. So, when I saw this "naked" address book/perpetual calendar from Pinecone Press in the LSS, I snatched it into my cart!

I altered it with some PP from American Crafts and Jillibean Soup (I just discovered this line, and I picked up a ton of it! Way cute!). The image is from PTI's new release, Everyday Button Bits. I love this set, and I love how the button colors match the trees in the PP! The bird is a MSL punch, and I'm not sure where the ribbon came from. I used my Nesties for the main image.

The book came with the spiral separate, so it made it very easy to alter. I first painted the edges with white paint. Then I covered the front and back with PP and the insides with coordinating CS. I painted the edges again, and Mod Podged the whole thing (minus the buttons).

This is the inside of the address part. I'm looking forward (sort of ;)) to getting all of my addresses all organized, and in one place! It's on my to-do list. :)

And lastly, here's the back that I stamped with the PTI's Birds of a Feather stamp set. I really like that little birdy.

I made another one of these for a friend, but I'll have to wait to show you that one. I really like how it turned out, too. :)

And now I'm off! I've got a living room to clean up, and a husband to talk to! Have a good evening!

xox,

Kirsten

When I Get Stuck

This is a Father's Day card that I made for my Dad last week with some PTI stamps, Forest Friends and Fresh Alphabet. The PP is from SU, buttons are from MFT, and ribbon is from PTI. Corner punch is from SU, as well.

And for a close-up of the image... I love this little hedgie!

Welp, that's about it! I'm off to get a shower. TTYL!

xox,

K

Get Well Soon, Ellie!

This is one of the new MFT sets that were released last week, Night Night Ellie. Ain't she cute!? I paired her up with one of my newer PTI sets and Lauren's SSC #22.

The color combo is Lemon Tart, Melon Berry, and Raspberry Fizz. I used my Cuttlebug on the yellow layer and Copics for the image. I drew in the little dots on her jammie shirt with my white gel pen.

The ribbon is from Doodlebug (I think), and buttons are from Basic Grey. I also used a Bella Dot on the flower center.

Now I'm off to get ready for work! Have a good Monday, and I'll be back soon!

xox,
K

Saturday Sketch Time!

This is my card for this week's SSC! I decided to treat myself for all of my recent hardwork and get a couple of PTI sets, and I thought that there was no time like the present to use them! You can find Lauren's sketch on her blog, here.

I used the new Background Basics: Retro, newer Forest Friends, and not-so-new Polka Dot Basics. The color combo is Summer Sunrise, Pure Poppy, Black, and New Leaf. The punches are Marvy, and the scallop punch is Fiscars. Ribbon is Creative Imaginations.

Now I'm off to try and get some more fun stuff done before Naptime is over! Check out the rest of the sketch team at the following links...

Alicia Weimen

Dawn Easton

Kendra Wisenbaker

Kim Gasper

Kristy Vernon

MacKenzie Bruckler

Maria Levine

Tamara Harder

Now I'm off! TTYL!

xox, Kirsten

Next Time, You're the Pool Boy, and...

I must say that this is one of my favorite cards that I made in the past couple of days. I used MFT's Maid for You and PTI's Grid Lines. I LOVE the color combo, and the fact that "she" is the only part of the image that's in color. The rest is "black and white".

Here's the deets... I used PTI's ribbon and paper (except SU!'s Basic Black - still have a ton of that). I also used Nesties, Copics, a Twinkle Sticker, and a bridal flower from Michaels that I colored black.

The inside of the card reads "and I'm the wealthy divorcee. Wink, Wink" I love that. I showed it to my hubby - 'cause I always show him all of my cards and can't wait to "surprise" him with one. Then I was bad, and said "now, I just have to figure out who to send it to..." (evil grin here) Well, oddly enough, he didn't like that. I laughed, and he poked me. I think I'm funny - you know, it's all good...

Well, that night he had a dream that I had cheated on him and he was irrationally angry with me! He blamed it on the card. Silly Hubster. ;) He's over it now, but we (really "I") got a nice laugh out of it. Dang, I love that man!

Well, have a good Monday, and I'll be back soon with some more LAD!

Till later...

xox,
K

Christmas Baskets

I made four of these baskets this year. One for each set of Wyatt's grandparents and one for my dear friend, Mimi (although hers was a slightly different). I'm really happy with how they turned out, and I hope that the recipients were as happy with them.

I picked up these baskets at Michaels, and filled them with my homemade canned applesauce and apple butter, Spice Cake mix, and a plate that was painted by Wyatt and myself. Then I froo-frooed it up with some pretty filler and some organic pine cones and things.I have had this red ribbon for a while and just rediscovered it when I was looking for something festive for these jars. I tied on one of PTI's recipe cards that I gussied up with the Recipe Box stamp set.The plate painting part was an especially fun thing to do with Wyatt. We went to a local place, called Bisque It and painted three of them.

For the labels, I used a MSL apple bunch, PTI's Simple Alphabet and Borders and Corners Circles, and the JustRite Stampers Baking Ensemble. The apple is dimensional.

And one last pic of the goods.

Well, that's about it for now! Have a wonderful weekend! I'll be back tomorrow with a SSC card!

xox,

Kirsten

Cookie Exchange Party Invites

I did a lot of procrastinating with these cards! I couldn't decide on a design OR a stamp set! I ended up settling with Made of Snow, from PTI, and Beate's Joy Fold Card. You can find the directions for this card on SCS, here. I made 20 of these suckers!


As you can see, I used a varity of PPs from SEI, punches from SU! and MSL, $1 Store rhinestones, and some chunky glitter flakes.

The orange circle functions to hold the opening layer closed. I also used the Faux Ribbon set (You're invited), Holiday Treats, Recipe Box, Believe, and Simple Alphabet. The snowflake is from SU!'s Snowflake Spot.


I used a cut-down recipe card for the inner part of the card.

This shot shows the side view and how it folds... And lastly, two more shots of different PP choices... Well, that's about it! Hope you likey! It's always a good time! Now that the invites are done, I need to start planning the rest! LOL

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! We're going to be off to a friends house for our "Thanksgiving Lunch", and then immediately following, we're going to our "Thanksgiving Dinner" with family! We're very blessed to be surrounded by those we love on this day.

Till next time.

xox,

Kirsten

Gimme Candy!

This is that Halloween set that I was referring to in the previous post! Pix taken and everything! LOL Oh well! I was all about the CANDY with this!!!
This is a cheapy little $1 tin from Target that I made a tag for. The stamp was colored with Copics (of course), and is from Lizzie Anne. I got the ribbon from my sweet friend, Michelle. Love it girl - thanks! :)
This is one of those coolio PTI tins that I stamped with that circle image from Spooky Sweets II.
And lastly, the card. The image and sentiments are from LAD, also. PP is from K&Company. I also used the MSL bat punch and my Copics. This is a 5 1/4 card.

I hope that you like the set, even if it IS November! LOL

I'll be back soon!

xox,
Kirsten

Spread your Wings (SSC)

This is another late night post, so I'll keep it brief. This is Lauren's sketch for this week! You can find it and her card right here.

I used PTI stamps (Out on a Limb, Birds of a Feather), ink, and CS for this. The punch is MSL.

This is kind of like a micro story, in that the first picture (bottom) show the two birds coming together to their nest with the two eggs. The top picture shows the nest with one egg and a bird flying away like he's "spreading his wings" to leave the nest. Maybe I'm trying to get too deep for a greeting card. I don't know- I'm too tired for reason! LOL

Anywho, there are other girls who do Lauren's SSC every week, so check them out, too. Here's their links...

Alicia Weimen
Tamara Harder
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kristy Vernon
Kim Gasper
MacKenzie Bruckler

Till later!

xox,
Kirsten

Some Women Complain about PMS...

This is another one of those Elzybells images that I found tucked away, all colored and matching this Urban Prairie PP, so I thought that I'd use it on a card! I also thought that she would go well with this sentiment that I picked up at StampFest, from Repeat Impressions. I love it - it makes me giggle! LOL

I used PTI's Polka Dot Basics for the bkgd, cut the main layers out with Nesties, and finished it off with American Crafts ribbon. The image was colored with Prismacolor Pencils and Gamsol.

Now I'm off because I have a little guy that is getting quite bored with my being on the computer! Till later!

xox,
k

Saturday Sketch Challenge!

This is my card for Lauren's SSC for this week. Did I mention that I heart this Urban Prairie PP very much!? Love this one with the little bees here and there across the paper. I needed to use the Honey Bee set, from PTI, with this paper and this sketch. I like how it turned out. :)

I also used PTI ribbon and BG buttons with this. I adore these colors! I'm so drawn to soft blues, olive greens, and teals all the time! The sentiment is stamped with White Craft (SU!), and it's from the Honey Bees Sentiments set.

And now I'm off. I'm not feeling that well, and feel like just closing my eyes. Make sure that you check out these links, for their take on the sketch...

Alicia Weimen
Tamara Harder
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kristy Vernon
Kim Gasper
MacKenzie Bruckler

Okay, TTYL, and "see" you soon!

xox,
Kirsten

Hello Friend!

Better late than never, right! I finished this card much earlier today, but I had to charge my camera battery, so that brings us to now! I just got my Basic Gray order from eP today, and I had to make a card. I LOVE this Urban Prairie PP!!! I needed to make something with it, and the Bellas were calling my name! This is also my card for this week's SCS sketch challenge (199).

I paper pieced my little chica, and colored the rest of her with Copics. The bird punch is from MSL. I also used my SU! punches, BG buttons, and Bella BonBons. The sentiment is from PTI's Birds of a Feather set. (Got my PTI box today, too! :))

And now I sign off. I'm going to go ahead and write tomorrow's SSC post, so I don't have to worry about it tomorrow morning. Have a good evening, and I'll see you back here then! :)

xox,
k