{The (Paper) Trail Makers Snow Challenge!}

One moring at the beginning of January, I took some pics looking out my back door. {doot, doot, doot, lookin' out my back door -earworm alert. haha!}

I saw this "snow fun" challenge at The (Paper) Trail Makers blog and thought...perfect! I know just what photos I will use. :)

I started with a piece of cream colored coredinations cs and misted it with "moonlight" glimmer mist. I placed some ek punched snowflakes down on the cs to create a masked effect. Then I stitched the entire piece onto a gold piece of bazzill. The pps I used are Websters & MME. Title letters are AC thickers. Die cut is from 7 Gypsies - I hand stitched around it w/glittery DMC (called Precious Metal Effects). The little sparkly tree is an old chip piece from Melissa Frances - I added a bit of ric rak. Chip corner pieces are Basic Gray - painted & glossy accented. Bling is Queen & Co., clear button is LaMode and the sheer cream trim is from my good friend, Kayla who sends me the best freakin' stuff ever!!! {thanks again, Kay! xo}

Thanks to The (Paper) Trail Makers girls for this fun challenge and thank you for coming by my blog!

Happy week-end!! :)
hugs, patti

{twine winner!!}

Lucky comment #16 come on down!!!

LISA WATSON!!

You are the winner of a fun little package of Martha Stewart twine. :) :)

Thanks for playing everybody!

hugs, patti

{cardabilities sketch #23}

hi everyone!

I was inspired by this sketch at cardabilities while making my friendship card.

Today I saw this very fun yarn flower tutorial here.

My friend Suzanne, from The Paper Variety, could not wait for the jillibean flowers and neither could I! {Just a couple of days ago I was talking with my MSW friends about these very flowers, discussing whether they were made with yarn, jute, etc.} Anyway, I admit to being impatient.

First I had to find my yarn stash. Only took about 5 minutes. It was in my bedroom closet, in an old basket my grandma had given me. Next I scrounged around for some scraps since it seems that's all I have left to scrap with these days. LOL!!

I started with a piece of kraft cs. (Did you know you can buy a 8.5x11" package of 50 kraft cs sheets at jo-ann's for 4 bucks - that's without a coupon!) Everything was inked with TH vintage photo ink. I zig zag stitched down a piece of Basic Gray pp and added some layered, stitched Strano ribbon. Next, I pop dotted the yarn flower piece. It is a BG Curio die cut with the yarn flower on top, and a jillibean button tied w/DMC. A small MM glimmer misted flower and some Queen & Co. pearls finish my card front.

I stamped my sentiment w/Momento potter's clay ink, using an Inkadinkado stamp - on the inside, and also added a bit more stitched Strano w/a FP button.

I love the way this yarn flower turned out, but must add that I'm definitely going to be looking to buy some of the jillibean "bean blossoms". It's sort of like buying the salad in the bag instead of the head of lettuce, if you know what I mean. :) :) And just to note - I started my yarn flower with a chip circle and used Tacky Glue to adhere the yarn. {You need to work quickly and be careful not to let your yarn get too much glue on it.}

Thanks to the cardabilities girls for the fun sketch to work with!

If you haven't already checked out The Paper Variety's challenge this week - you should!! The prize is out of this world!! $50.00 gift certificate at Crop Chocolate!!!

Thank you for coming by my blog!

Tomorrow's Friday!! :) :)

hugs, patti

{The Paper Variety - Quote/Journaling Challenge!}

The challenge this week at The Paper Variety is to create a paper project with a quote or some journaling inspiration. I {heart} quotes. So often, when I read a quote it will make me think "I feel the same exact way!" Quotes make me feel connected to others - like I'm not unique in my way of thinking. Sometimes that is a real comfort.

I chose to create a wall art piece for the Paper Variety challenge this week.

{Here is a before shot - my boss had this hanging in his kitchen of his old house. He gave it to me when he moved. I flipped it inside out and painted it black. This gave me the boxed frame that I built on.}

Materials used:

Clipboards - Staples (.99 each)

CS - Coredinations

PP - Basic Gray, Pink Paislee

Quotation marks - AC thickers

Bling - Zva, Prima

Flower - Prima

Brads - MME

Hambly overlays

Punches - Fiskars, MS

Crocheted frame (RAK from Kayla)

Old key - (RAK from Kelly Day)

Offray ribbon

Yellow Glimmer Mist (each quote was misted)

The prize this week is this -----> Woo hoo!!! That's one sweet deal! :) :)

I made this wall art of quotes, knowing right where I would hang it, when it was complete. My house does not have a designated office or a den. We use a small space in the master bedroom to keep our file cabinet and bills. I placed my new wall art above the desk and honestly...I love it! My hubs, sons and mom have all given me very flattering compliments on this piece as well. Everyone has chosen their favorite quote. :) Some close-up shots follow.

Thanks so much for coming by my blog!!! I hope that you'll be inspired by the Paper Variety quote projects and make one of your own.

hugs, patti

{scrapdango sketch contest & a RAK}

PAGE MAPS is hosting a sketch challenge with a fabulous prize being offered up by Scrapdango! Fun, right?? I saw this page maps sketch and loved it. Then, I saw the prize. No brainer! Find some photos and get to it! :) :)

{9 p.m. christmas eve} My lo is my 9 year old nieces, Elly and Sky. It was 9 p.m. on Christmas Eve, and they were full of it! LOL!!
{side note: won't it be a riot to show them this lo when they're 16 year olds? HA!!!}

Lay-out materials ~ the base is light pink Bazzill, pps - very old "twitterpated" s*e*i (pink), jillibean soup and AC (green), flower cut from crate pp, "one of a kind" die cut RAK from Rita Barakat (thanks again, rita!!) - sprayed w/pink glimmer mist and I added BG ltr stickers to change it to "two of a kind", FP buttons w/MS baker's twine, misc. ric-rak, AC thickers, Sass green ltr stickers, Prima bling and machine stitching.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I also wanted to show you how I made these cute little buttons. All you need is some baker's twine (or DMC floss) and buttons. I used Martha Stewart baker's twine. Simply tie the buttons together and knot the twine leaving long tails to tie into bows.

Next, tie 2 or 3 bows, leaving a bit of twine for your tails. Finally, clip the bows so that you have fuzzy, willy-nilly fun buttons. :)
Did you notice I did not complain about the snow in this post? I apologize to my blog readers for wearing my cranky snow pants as of late. {...and yes, it's snowing out there today and not even zero degrees, but we're not going to talk about it.} I'm smiling and scrapping the winter away. :)

To thank you all for coming by my blog day after winter day, I'd like to offer up this package of Martha Stewart baker's twine. What do you need to do to have me mail it to you? hmmm. Just leave me a comment and tell me if you like the buttons or not. You can not like them - that's perfectly okay! :) :) I {love} baker's twine!!! This package is extra in my stash...and I always feel so good to send out a RAK to someone.

So, happy Sunday night!! Hope you all have a good, hassle-free, productive week ahead! I'll choose a winner for the baker's twine in a couple of days. Thanks so much for being my blog friend - I {love} reading your comments and appreciate you stopping by!! :)

hugs, patti

{altered "love" challenge!}

Jackie, at Scrapbook Challenges has an "altered LOVE challenge" going on.

Doesn't take much of a prompt for me to want to play with mod podge (and I am so reminded of all my old SBO friends when I get out the mod podge - LOL!!!).

I've had this little tin can that held tea bags, for a couple of years. For the bottom, I applied mod podge right on top of the paper label and adhered my Graphic 45 pp (from last year's Christmas collection). I pinned and stitched the red offray ribbon and applied it to the can with fabri-tac. Next I added my Maya Road chip tag, stamped w/a Unity stamp - using TH vintage photo ink. Finished it off with a bit of brown baker's twine and some AC buttons tied w/DMC.

For the top, I first removed the label with soapy water. Then I simply placed a MM circle sticker and added some SR letter stickers to say "to/from". It was my goal to achieve a masculine sort of feel because I want to give this can filled with candy, (and maybe a twenty spot) to one of my sons for Valentine's Day. :)

{before}

{after - isn't this a cute stamp?}
I'm also going to link this altered project to Paper Issues. They're having a Valentine's Day Party - link up your Valentine's Day project, anything goes, challenge for January. :)

We're on Day #3 snow day here today. I just told the hubs "it's a good thing I can scrapbook, or I would've lost my sh*t by now." I don't like just knowing that I can't (or really shouldn't) leave the house. Especially on Saturday. So, thank the heavens above for this hobby!!!

Not only that, but I've really been putting a dent in my stash. :) :)

If you have an altered project to share....link it up in the comments section. I'd love to come see!

Thanks for coming by my blog today! Hope the sun is shining on you!!!

hugs, patti

{i am aunt patti.}

{because of these awesome people...i am aunt patti.}

I was inspired this week by Pamela's sketch #237 at Scrapbook Challenges. I really, really love this sketch...and I so love my lo!!! Probably because I {adore} every one of these kids! There are 15 nieces and nephews on this lo - how lucky am I? Very, I say! :)

My lo list of ingredients is simple. I used gray Bazzill for my background, jillibean soup flowers, Basic Gray fabric covered brads, My Little Shoebox letter stickers for the kid's names, Prima black letter stickers, more bazzill w/computer generated journaling, a MS heart punch and some machine stitching. Please note - I took every one of these photos except for my nephew Jimmy (pictured here with his wife. They live in Michigan - and rather than use an older photo, I cut apart their Christmas card.) :)

{some close-ups}

{{The kids on the left page are from the hub's side. Kids on the right are from my side of the family. They are all awesome!}}

Hope you have plans for a week-end filled with whatever it is you want to do (which means not just chores and commitments)! Sounds good to me. :)

Thanks, Scrapbook Challenges for this sketch to work with!!!

Thanks to all of my bloggin' friends for stoppin' by!

hugs, patti

{the paper variety challenge #17!}

Hello bloggin' friends!! It is right now 2:45 in the afternoon and it has been snowing since I woke up!! It's beautiful out there - as long as I don't need to drive in it. :)

Just for fun I am participating in the Paper Variety's sketch challenge this week. It's a very cute sketch!

I flipped the sketch upside down (out of necessity, really. the background of these pics is my in-law's front porch in big time need of a fresh coat of paint. lol! so, covering the unpleasant peeling paint with the circles worked well!). The background pp is My Little Shoebox. Circles were cut from jillibean soup. I used an AC thicker capital "C" and then Sass letter stickers for the rest of the title. The pink ribbon is AC. I adhered it with fabri-tac & a q-tip, inching my way around.....up & down, like a cartwheel. :)

This is my niece, Skylar. Actually, she is my great-niece. Her mother was my oldest niece, but she passed away from breast cancer at the early age of 24. Sky is a well adjusted happy little girl, being raised by her father & step-mom. She even has a toddler brother and infant sister! :) :)

{Cartwheel fun!} Check out the prizes to be won this week at the Paper Variety!

Holy moly, there is a gift certificate from the Scrapbooking Cottage AND a MME "state of the heart" pp collection!! Such a pretty line - and perfect for Valentine's day projects. :)

Thank you for coming by! Hope you enjoyed this cheerful little lo.

Signing off one day closer to Spring,

~patti

{Double, double!}

With that, I mean a two page lay-out and two challenges! :)

ScrapFIT's challenge #36 is to use paper strips. For my paper strips, I used scraps and stitched them down like this. Melonie Madison's challenge at Citrus Tree Studio is to use a white background w/some yellow, anywhere on the lay-out.

Another California vacation lo. I am psyched to have another vacation lo completed! This trip was so incredible and I still have photos that need to be made into los. :)

{never forget...the PACIFIC COAST.}
journaling close-up ~ {I used jillibean soup and gcd pp, coredinations dotted swiss cs, AC cs, Worldwin cs, 7 Gypsies tag, AC letter stickers (I have not used letter stickers in so long...yay for the stash!), Sass sparkly letter stickers, MS baker's twine, Prima bling, BG fabric covered brad, blue fabric flower that came in a kit, MM "CALIFORNIA" sticker, & machine stitching.}

Thanks to the ScrapFIT girls for their inspiration!!

Thanks to my friend Melonie for her inspiration!!

And, finally...thank you for coming by my blog. Hope you all have a great day! It is bitter cold here...I mean freeze-your-nose-hairs, squeaky snow, long underwear, kind of cold! Stay warm, friends!! Sorry for the mediocre photos today...these winter days make photographing a two pager a challenge, let me tell ya!

hugs, patti

{cardabilities challenge #21!}

A little bit of sunshine in a thank you card. :)

The sketch this week at cardabilities is versatile and fun. Check it out!!

I dug into the stash and found some pretty Basic Gray pp for this card. The yellow twill pocket was a RAK from my friend Kayla (thanks again, Kay!!). The chip pieces were painted w/TH crackle paint and then I added a tiny bit of doodlebug glitter to them. Letter stickers are Prima. I machine stitched the twill (& the sentiment) & added FP buttons tied w/baker's twine.

Now, just for fun. Some pics of my backyard.

{the pool.}

{the summer time patio and walkway to out front.}

{"please mom, let's just go in and have something to eat."}

LOL!! That Filbert. He is such a character. And, yes, that's me in my pink slippers & pink plaid robe. :)

Thanks to the cardabilities girls for some fab inspiration and thanks for coming by my blog!

Hope you're having a nice Sunday - and maybe even a nice long week-end. :)

hugs, patti

The Paper Variety {pink} Challenge #16!!

This week, the challenge at The Paper Variety is to use the color pink! Pink w/white, pink w/black, pink w/white and/or black. Just show us a pink paper project!! :)

{Pink is one of my very favorite colors - and I don't care that Clinton says that women over 30 should not wear pink!}

Our FABULOUS prize - 2 sets of stamps - is being sponsored by My Pink Stamper!I created a lo using bake sale photos from a combination bake/garage sale my Relay for Life team had last spring. {We raised over 600 bucks for the American Cancer Society at this event alone - we were psyched about that total!}

I needed to use this "Seasoned with Love" pp, by Norma Kennedy. I so love the little oven!!

{You can find this mini paper pad here.}

{relay $ale}

I started with pink bazzill, a bit of Melissa Frances pp, and FP pink pp for the scalloped punched edges. I placed some doilies about the lo, and stitched on top. The flowers, hearts & buttons are all from my stash - MM, FP, buttons galore. Pink letter stickers are AC thickers, pink ribbon is Offray.

Once I was done with the lo, I didn't want to put away all of my pink pretties...so, I made a card. Materials include AC white base, pink bazzill, MM pink hearts, misc. button & bling, Unity Stamp w/white stampendous embossing powder, AC heart ribbon, and machine stitching. {The bling on ribbon is by Darice - each gem was placed using an eyebrow tweezer. I carefully dipped the bottom of the gem into some glossy accents and then applied to ribbon.}

{hello dear friend}

The Paper Variety girls and I hope you get a chance this week to participate in our PINK CHALLENGE!!!

Link up to The Paper Variety before noon next Tuesday, January 18, and you'll be entered in the random drawing to win the two adorable stamp sets from My Pink Stamper!!

Thank you for coming by my blog!! Have a great week!!

hugs, patti