{cardabilities sketch #30!}

It's time for a new sketch from Karan Gerber at cardabilities!!! {Isn't this a beauty?}

A little reminder - cardabilities now has a gallery for uploading your creations!

Here is my interpretation of sketch #30.

For my card I used Little Yellow Bicycle pp, journaling card & the butterfly was punched from a LYB journaling ticket. The ticket has months and days printed on it - I punched the butterfly making sure to get the "month of May and the day of 8". This will be the Mother's Day card I give to my mom. :) :)

I machine zig zag stitched around the scalloped edge and then stitched down the journaling dies as well. The "xoxo" are AC thickers. The orange flower w/green stem is a Prima iron on by Donna Downey. I had never used one of these before - it was easy! The backing on the flower transfer peeled off easily and it worked like a charm. :)

Hope you get a chance to play with sketch #30! Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Have a great day!!! hugs, patti

{got numbers?? the next paper variety challenge!!}

Hi everyone! The challenge this week at The Paper Variety is to create a paper project and use a number or any number of numbers. :) :)

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This past December, I had a memorable birthday. I say it was memorable because I experienced a {tiny bit of} anxiety leading up to this day. I'm not gonna lie...I was nervous to turn what people call the "big five-oh". But, thankfully the day turned out to be fabulous and I didn't notice any new gray hairs or wrinkles. :) :)

I chose to create a lay-out for this challenge.

This photo of me was taken on Christmas Eve -- 6 days before my 50th birthday.

{i'm fifty and okay with it.}

I started with a piece of AC black cs and used some Websters trendsetters pp. The "old car" was fussy cut from the pp. I used a fiskars "I am grateful" stamp - and stamped the sentiment several times on the car. The big title letters are from my stash - I've had them for a couple of years - made by K&Co. The red felt {50} are AC thickers. The letter stickers are by Pink Paislee and the buttons are from my button jar. :) I chose to machine stitch on top of the entire title to hopefully give it some emphasis. :)

Of course there's an awesome prize to win this week at the Paper Variety!!!

Just create a paper project - remember - anything goes - and upload it to the gallery before next Tuesday, April 26, noon EST and you'll be entered into the random draw for this ---->

This fabulous prize comes to you from We Scrap Kits.

Hope to see your project in the Paper Variety gallery!!!

Have a great day! hugs, patti

{cardabilities!}

I'm so excited to be participating in my first cardabilities card sketch reveal as a new DT member. :) :)

Here is Karan's middle of the month sketch #29~ Here is my interpretation ~

I started with a Bazzill white base and used Little Yellow Bicycle {Elizabeth Park} and echo park {springtime} pps. I had this yellow ruffle in my stash from long ago. It matches these pps perfectly, so I stitched a piece down. Also from my stash - the Heidi Grace heart stick pins - so sweet and irresistable (and found for a dollar at Big Lots). :) I cut the label from the LYB pp and layered the EP "thank you" sticker w/some zig zag stitching. Pink sorbet twine from the Twinery was tied around the piece, topping with FP yellow button.

If you look closely, you can see that I added two Hambly acrylic butterflies - punched from a Martha Stewart butterfly punch. (I didn't know if I would get a perfectly punched butterfly using acrylic - and was pleasantly surprised when it worked.) I also finished the inside of this pretty springtime card.

A wonderful prize is being offered by Sparkle Creations!!!

There are some big, fun changes going on at cardabilities!!! Karan is launching a gallery! If you participate in this card challenge, you could score a guest DT spot! Fun, right?? :) Hope to see you there!!!

As always, thanks so much for coming by my blog. I so appreciate your support and comments! hugs, patti

{tag & flower challenge!}

My friend Jan Tatomir, card design team member at My Sketch World has a challenge for April to make a tag - with Spring being your inspiration. I combined Jan's challenge with this week's challenge at The Paper Variety to create a paper project using flowers. :) :)

Here is my tag. Flowers, butterflies and a big fabric flower to mimic the sun is what I think of while I wait for Spring. I like to sometimes make cards and tags that do not include a sentiment. That way, I can use it for whatever occasion I want to. I can also write a note on the back of this tag. I started with a 7 Gypsies office tag. Distressed & inked the edges and then layered it on top of a piece of scalloped bazzill. Next I hand stitched, using light brown DMC, a border around a Websters journaling card. The flower is made from a scrap piece of cotton fabric, topped with 2 layered buttons & a metal turquoise flower. A brown MM eyelet was added to the tag along with some twine from the Twinery.

Here is a photo tutorial for the tag's fabric flower. Fray one long edge of a piece of 8" by1.5" fabric. Baste a straight stitch close to the opposite long side. Pull the threads on each side to gather the fabric. Double knot the threads on the back side of the flower. Top with button, flower or bling.

I {love} these quick and easy to make flowers!

Thanks for coming by my blog. Hope you're having a good week!!

hugs, patti

{citrus tree studio "spring fling" crop!!}

Hi everyone! Spring has arrived in upstate New York! We have robins! Daffodils have poked through! Temps are supposed to be in the 50s this week-end! It's all good stuff! :) :) To celebrate Spring, Citrus Tree Studio is having a "Spring Fling" crop. There are many fun challenges and awesome prizes! I was invited to create a challenge for the CTS crop. My challenge is this -------> Create a set of springtime cards. {a set being at least 3} Design, colors, embellies - your choice. :) All that is required is that the cards be related to SPRING. I created a set of cards from jillibean soup's blossom line.

{thank you for all you do} {friends are the sunshine of life} {smell the flowers}To hold my springtime cards, I made a box. The box pattern can be found here. I first saw this box at my friend Mara's blog and loved it!!! {thanks, Mara!}

Hope you'll have some time this week-end to stop by Citrus Tree and chat & check out the challenges. Another little something to note --- Cindy at Citrus Tree is having a call for a new Design Team for the summer and fall!!! Her kits are super fab...so if you think you'd like to be on a kit DT....here's an opportunity for you!! :) :)

Have a great week-end!!! I'm off with the hubs and my brother, sisters and mom (there are 14 of us all together) to attend an NHL game {my first}. We're all driving to Detroit for Friday night's Detroit Red Wings game!!! {My nephew is a goaltender for the Wings - his name is Jimmy Howard. He is my older sister's son.}

HAPPY SPRINGTIME to you!!! hugs, patti

{singing in the rain ~ a new Paper Variety challenge!!}

It's a brand new week at the Paper Variety - which means...it's a new challenge and a new prize!!! :) :) Here is your inspiration image. Cute, right?

Create a paper project (lo, card, tag, altered item), using this image to get you going. Upload to the Paper Variety gallery by Tuesday, April 12 @noon (EST) for a chance to win this wonderful prize from Studio Calico!!!

I had some cute photos of my nieces from last summer. The two of them were "singing in the rain" - literally belting out that song while strolling up and down the street while holding a big red umbrella. Really so funny!! We have a huge festival in our city each July. It's held all along the waterfront. My BIL Donny lives right along the harbor where people dock their boats. (Location, location, location!!) We hang at Donny's during the Harborfest festival every year (and have been doing so for over 20 years now!) There is a trolley that provides transportation for people who get tired of walking or trying to find a parking space. The people on the trolley were laughing at Elly and Sky...and of course, Elly and Sky were loving it! It was a fun day, regardless of the rain! :) :)

{singing in the rain}

For my lay-out, I used Nikki Sivils "Rainy Day" line. The letters are SR, heart ribbon is AC, ric rak's been in the stash for a long while, as have the buttons. :) I cut apart a piece of pp to create the whimsical umbrella shaped line along the top of the lo. I also made a birthday card while I was working with this sweet Nikki Sivils line. I used the sketch #81 at Get Sketchy.

{inside} Thanks to the Get Sketchy girls for their sketch and inspiration. :)

I hope you'll play along with us this week at the Paper Variety. Participation has been fabulous!!! It's so much fun to see the unique projects that you all come up with every week. Love it!!

Thanks for coming by my blog. I hope the sun is shining where you live. :)

hugs, patti

{citrus tree studio guest designer!}

I was so lucky to get to play with the April "Hello Spring!" kit as an April guest designer at Citrus Tree Studio!!! The April kit is filled with 3 Bugs in a Rug Chloe pps, jillibean, maya road & nikki sivils fun embellies & more!! It's a very cute kit!!! :)

One of my most favorite things about Spring is being able to hang clothes out on the line to dry. I especially love to put bedding out there - just love the smell of the fresh air. With that in mind, I altered this framed wall art.

{springtime}

I had an old frame that was painted black. I sanded it, applied a coat of MM green paint and let dry. Then I applied a coat of Delta cream colored paint and let dry. As a last step to get this crackle finish, I applied Delta crackle paint. The cute little MR canvas pieces are included in the kit - I had fun stitching pps onto each piece. :)

{Mmm chocolate}

I love these pics of my niece, Elly on her tenth birthday. Just look at that cake - she helped to bake and decorate it. :) I added some "chocolate icing" to each jillibean letter. I applied some glossy accents to the top of each letter and then sprinkled doodlebug brown glitter on top. I let dry completely and topped with a bit more glossy accents to eliminate any shedding. I love how they turned out! :) {Carnival Apples} I hand cut the polka dotted scalloped edge and then hand stitched w/DMC. The flowers on this lo are handmade, using the Chloe pps in the kit. I saw a tutorial here, on Melinda Spinks blog, for this flower. So easy and I think they are a funky little flower, perfect for this lo. :)

Thanks for stopping by!!

Hope you enjoy your Springtime where you live!

hugs, patti

{artful delight april challenge!}

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My LSS had a 40% off sale on Friday. I spied the Websters "trendsetter" line and put the pps & journaling cards in my basket like the place was on fire. I love it!!

Artful Delight has a monthly sketch challenge. Here is their sketch for April.

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One of my favorite things to do while paper crafting is mix old product with new product. :) :)

For this lay-out of my niece Sara, I started with a black AC base and layered on some Little Yellow Bicycle. The edges were roughed up and machine stitched. Next, I added my photo to a piece of the Websters trensetters pp. The title letters are by Cosmo Cricket - blackboard chip, in my stash for a while now. The layered flower bases are jillibean soup. I gathered a little piece of gray felt and topped with a Prima pebbles. The butterflies are cut from a trendsetters journaling card. I tied some twine around this piece and pop dotted for added dimension.The trendy girls above were cut from the pp and also pop dotted.

I am so happy with how this page turned out. It was a really fun one to create. {Don't you just love it when the process is fun? Sometimes I sit and can't decide w/a lo. This one came together quickly.}

Thanks to the Artful Delight crew for their sketch inspiration.

Hope you're having a wonderful Sunday! The sun is shining here today. :)

hugs, patti