In Love With You (and Studio pics!)

Good morning!  Yesterday was a VERY EXCITING day!!  As I was leaving the house before noon, the postal truck drove up and had not one but TWO packages for me :)  Then, when I checked our mail box ANOTHER package had arrived.  THEN our new living room furniture arrived!!  Oh, it felt like Christmas all over again.  I also spent some quality time in the studio, organizing more paper and making a few cards.  The colourQ challenge was on my “to do for sure” list and I had fun using some new and old items on this card.  The challenge this week is to use black and white with a splash of one other colour.  Hmmm, which colour?!  After some auditions, I went with HOT PINK!!  She wins almost every time when adding a pop of colour :)  The paper is from last year’s Echo Park’s Be Mine kit.  I still love this and you will probably see more of it as we get closer to Valentine’s Day ;)

I took a couple of pictures of the studio as it looked last night.  It’s a bit make shift right now until the new cupboards and counters come in and I can hang my ribbon holders on the wall.  But it’s starting to feel like “home.”

These are the 2 Ikea shelves we picked up in October.  They hold a LOT of things and were much cheaper than the ones in Nichole Heady’s new studio (if you follow the PTI newsletters).  HA!  There’s Seinfeld on t.v.!!  I picked up a cheap flat screen at Costco and it will be mounted on the wall soon too…counter space is expensive real estate in a studio, so anything that can be mounted on the wall will be :)

Now for something incredible that I discovered at Michaels this week!  The perfect die storage for my beloved Verve dies (which are on SALE right now!) and PTI dies.  I had 2 GCs from Santa to spend and LOVED going in after Christmas with them to pick up some Christmas and organization items on sale for 50 – 70% off!!  This little jewelry/drawer organizer was in one of the main aisles with a bunch of other matching organizers.  I thought it might be the perfect die holder and once I got home, I discovered it WAS!!  My dies fit perfectly!!  I went back to Michaels and picked up 2 more…for future growth!!  The right side, where my Verve dies are, is divided into 3 sections.  SCORE!!

Well, that’s all for me :)  I’m off to the gym and then for a pedicure this morning.  Then back into the studio for some more inky time :)  Hope your week has been fabulous :)

what’s in it?

stamps: pti love and marriage

ink: versafine onyx

paper: pti white, echo park be mine dp

accessories: pti edger die and ribbon, Michaels button, bakers twine, gems

A Wonderful Life and Happy Boxing Day!

Happy Boxing Day, everyone!!  We had an amazing evening last night hosting Christmas dinner for both our families…30 people.  The new house is officially broken in!!  Everything went off without a hitch and I was so busy visiting and giving house tours that I didn’t even pick up my camera :)  I went out early this morning to pick up a few things at Pier 1.  Today is Boxing Day in Canada (and the UK I believe).  It’s kind of like the Thanksgiving Day sales in the US.  Most stores start their sales before Christmas, but not Pier 1.  We needed stocking hangers for the new fireplace and Pier 1 had the perfect, rustic looking ones.  However, I was not going to pay full price so I waited until today to pick these up…

They match the mantle perfectly!! Score!  Got back home before 9:00, cleaned up the kitchen some more, had a turkey bun (one advantage of hosting dinner…yummy leftovers!) and was able to make a card!  My sister from Texas wants to give a good friend of hers a special card for her birthday in a few days, so she asked if I would make one.  She picked out this sentiment and then I showed her some of my new papers and we decided on the colour palette.  I’ve used my beloved Verve stamps, ALL of which are on sale during the week long Good Buy sale HERE…first up is Tag Time on sale for 50% off! I used the graph paper tag stamp that coordinates with the tagged rectangle die on sale for 10% off.

The sentiment is from Words of Wisdom, on sale for 30% off!!

Check out the rest of the amazing sale HERE…

AND when you’re there, please notice this little banner! Woohoo!! Let’s just say this Diva is a little excited about this one ;) 
Okay, I’m off to do some online shopping myself!!  Thanks so much for dropping by…let me know what you are buying this week…maybe it’s something I need too!! LOL  Happy Shopping!!

what’s in it?

stamps: tag time, words of wisdom (Verve)

paper: rustic cream (PTI), espresso, pumpkin, caribbean (SU), farmhouse (Crate Paper), Farmhouse (October Afternoon)

ink: onyx (Versafine), sahara sand (SU),

accessories: tagged rectangle die (A Cut Above dies by Verve), eyelet (SU), twine, button and ribbon (PTI), border punch (Fiskars), stitching

Sending Christmas Joy & Cheer

Hi!!  I’m just sneaking this card in before the 25th.  My package from Ellen Hutson arrived at the beginning of the week and I just HAD to cut into the new October Afternoon paper…was this released a little too late this year or was it just me?  Anyways, I was happy to have made at least one card with it :)  I picked out a few of my favourite papers and then went from there.  The poinsettia is made with Dawn’s PTI poinsettia stamp set and dies…I have had fun with these this season :)  This was a hand delivered card this week…too bulky and wide for mailing, but it is going to a dear stamping friend here in town :)  Okay, I’ll leave you with our tree…much more beautiful IRL…the ornaments are a mixture of the dh’s and mine, which are mostly gifts from students through the years…a tree of loving memories :)  I may not be back here until after Christmas so here is one final “Merry Christmas!!”  Hugs to you in your part of the world…I appreciate your visits and sweet comments always :)

 

what’s in it?

stamps: pti Christmas poinsettia, Stylish Sentiments Holiday

ink: versafine onyx, su ruby red, sahara sand

paper: pti rustic cream, cream, October Afternoon holiday style

accessories: pti banner, poinsettia, mat stack 4 dies, pearls, stitching

Peace, Joy & Love

Good afternoon!!  It’s been a fun few days with my son here and the Christmas decorating mostly done :)  I needed to make one more special card and with 2 of my favourite challenges, this card was born.  It’s for the joy of my life, my son, Jake.  It uses the colour palettes for this week’s colourQ challenge AND this week’s JUGS colour challenge hosted by my bestie, Lynn :)  I’m calling a colour overlap on these challenges!!! Hope you think so too :)

Just had to sneak in another woodgrain image…I just love this set!  Okay, I’m off to start the biscotti :)  Thanks for visiting :)  Cheers!

 

what’s in it?

stamps: pti modern woodgrain, wonderful words holiday

ink: versafine onyx, pti springmoss

paper: pti white, kraft, su cherry cobbler, echo park holly jolly, season’s greetings

accessories: pti word, edger and mat stack dies, ribbon

My Love for You…

Good evening everyone!!  Just popping in with a very special Christmas card I’ve been working on today in between house tours, shopping, baking and card writing :)  It was only a few days ago when I realized I hadn’t made Tony’s card yet!  Yikes!!  I knew I wanted to get into my Verve binders and pick out a “love” sentiment…not a usual choice for a Christmas card, but one definitely for the love of my life on his Christmas card.  The sentiment is from the Love Deepens set and the sweet little “xoxo” is from Love Notes.   This card is also for the fun challenge over on A Passion for Papertrey :)  The “challenge (ahem, cough, cough) is to add GREEN to your card.  We are laughing here because this is one of Aimes’ favourite colours AND because it’s not too difficult for this St. Patrick’s Day baby to do the same :)  Another busy day tomorrow…my son comes home for 5 days and we’ve got lots planned…he’ll be helping me in the studio and with the technical setups of all the new remotes :)  LOL  I hope to sneak a little more inky time in this week too :)  Hope all your preparations are going well :)  So glad you stopped by!!  Christmas hugs,

 

what’s in it?

stamps: Love Deepens, Love Notes (Verve)

paper: kraft, rustic cream, springmoss (PTI), Season’s Greetings (Echo Park)

ink: onyx (Versafine)

accessories: tree, poinsettia, tab dies (PTI), buttons, twine, felt (PTI), brads (Making Memories), star gem ($ store)

merry, merry, merry!

Good Friday morning!! Let’s start this day and so my holidays can start this afternoon!!  Woohoo!!  Hopefully I can spend some good quality time getting the studio a bit more organized :)  When I saw the colours over on the ColourQ blog this week, clean and simple came to mind!  I know! I can’t believe it!  I guess I wanted to experiment with multiple die words and this seemed the best way.  Here is what the card looked like before I cut the edges…

I moved the words around until I liked the randomness of them around the pink “merry.”  Thanks so much for stopping by today…what are you excited about?

 

what’s in it?

stamps: pti Christmas poinsettia

ink: versamark

paper: pti white, green, kiwi kiss (best match)

accessories: pti word and poinsettia dies, button, baker’s twine

Be Merry and Bright

Good evening!  I was cutting some paper for our craft afternoon this coming Friday at work and had an itch to play along with the Waltzingmouse Sketch challenge this week.  It was pretty open ended and gave me a good chance to ink up some yet to be used WMS stamps.  This fun star image comes from Seasons of Love Tags.  Then I flipped through my Christmas paper pads and found this gorgeous blue paper…which became the springboard for the rest of the card.  No rusty bells on this one, but some tarnished silver ones that were in the same box with the rusty ones :)  I’ve been on a bit of a doily kick again lately…and loving it!  Thanks so much for all your sweet comments on the new house…I feel truly blessed here :)  Hope your week has started out right…

what’s in it?

stamps: waltzingmouse stamps seasons of love tags

ink: versafine onyx, pti springmoss

paper: pti rustic cream, white, echo park season’s greetings

accessories: wilton doily, seam binding ribbon, silver bells, twine, gems, stitching

Glad Tidings from the new Studio!

Hi dear friends!!  Wow, I think this is the longest time I’ve had between posts! There has literally been no time between work and unpacking the house.  I really tackled the studio today.  You don’t really realize how much “stuff” you have until you unpack it!! LOL  I even had the dh admit that maybe we should have made the studio a bit bigger!! ACK!! What did I say last April?!  I think it will be much better once the new counters and cabinets come, then I can really organize.  For now, I’ve just unpacked and set things up so I can start creating again.  AND as it was settling in at Dad’s in August, this tag took me a good 3 hours to make!  I just need to find my groove ;)  So today’s colours are via the ColourQ Challenge blog.  They also added a twist this week…anything but a card.  Hmm, okay, I’ll make a tag (to later put on a card! shh!)…my favourite thing to do with a tag!  Hey, did you notice the rusty bells?  I found them today and just had to use them right away :) I was SOOOO excited!!  Here is the yummy inspiration photo…

I actually want to make a fun card with this palette as well.  This is just a delicious combination!  Okay, I’ll leave you with some new photos…the fireplace!  I love the progression each day.  The only thing that wasn’t fun was all the concrete dust EVERYWHERE!  And just after we had cleaned everything :(

I was so excited to put up my beloved nativity scene.  I love that the stone makes it look so rustic.  Will need to find some nice greenery to add.

Thanks so much for visiting!!  Hopefully it won’t be too long until I’m back to regular posts.  Hope the rest of your weekend is lovely :)

 

what’s in it?

stamps: verve glad tidings

ink: versafine onyx

paper: pti white, kraft, su caribbean

accessories: pti tree and banner die, buttons, ribbon, cuttlebug embossing folders, gems, stitching, su linen thread, twine, rusty bells!!, pti felt

Thank You

Good evening! I am really off my regular 4:00 AM posting schedule!! LOL  But I’m going with the flow and not sweating the small stuff (except my rusty bells which are still MIA!).  This is a masculine card I made last week at Dad’s house.  A coworker came and asked if I had any thank you cards for a male coach.  Hmm, that’s pretty specific…I said I would bring her my thank you cards to work the next day.  Well, I had NO masculine thank you cards so I whipped this one up.  I was only too happy to use the lovely PTI botanical set again :)  Needless to say my coworker was very pleased and bought 2 more cards along with this one :)  We continue to be busy unpacking and getting used to the new home.  I have a few photos to share before I head off to bed. First up is the studio…in chaos, but slowly getting there. 

Next 2 photos are of the stone waiting patiently to be installed tomorrow!  Ah, cozy fireplace will be ready for the weekend…bliss!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Hope all is well in your corner of the world. 

 

what’s in it?

stamps: pti botanical silhouettes

paper: pti kraft, su sahara sand, lilybee designs dp

ink: versafine onyx, su riverrock, sahara sand

accessories: pti twine, buttons, fiskars border punch, creative concepts ef

Love Lives Here

Hi everyone!  Wow, it’s only been 3 days, but I feel totally out of the loop!  We moved on the weekend so it’s been a whirlwind of boxes and unpacking and cooking for ourselves again!! LOL  I don’t have anything brand new today, but thought I would repost the card I made back in February for the PTI blog hop on scallops.  I saved this card for a special occasion and finally found the perfect person to give it to.  It’s going to the lovely woman who worked with me since May to coordinate the colours, light fixtures, new furniture etc at the new house.  She is our interior designer.  At times I felt like she was my BFF calming me down as I got a bit overwhelmed by having too many choices.  She was very good at letting me know how everything would work together.  And it all does.  We are extremely happy with all the decisions we made :)  I’ve worked with her before and she’s very good at figuring out what is in my mind and what my tastes are.  So it seems only fitting that she receive a little “home” inspired card.  I’m off to unpack some more boxes…not sure when I’ll be back to a regular schedule…I’m not putting any pressure on myself, but hope to treat myself to a little inky time one evening this week.  Thanks so much for visiting :)

Merry Christmas!

Good evening and TGIF!  I had this post all ready to go last night, but Dad’s internet was down again.  Luckily he was getting his new T.V. PVR in and they upgraded his internet modem and wireless router :)  So, here is today’s card, a little delayed.  We have a busy weekend, but I won’t mind…we are moving the final boxes AND temporary studio tomorrow!  I really wanted to squeeze in one more colourQ card in before the big MOVE so kept my Christmas stamps and dies out.  I had originally wanted to make some ornaments for this card, but I let the colour Muses guide me and out came a sparkly snowflake instead :)  That HUGE button was the biggest one in my PTI button jar…lol  It’s the perfect size for that snowflake IMHO.  Here are the colours this week…

Hopefully I won’t be offline too long…see you soon!  Have a wonderful weekend!  I’ll leave you with the final install of the railing :)

 

Wednesday…

Thursday…almost done!