Morning Make & Take

Hi, fellow Campers!  I'm excited to be at my desk and stamping this morning.  I did get up pretty early (for me on a Saturday in the summertime, anyway) to get started.  However, I had a little desk clearing to do before it could start.  And then I couldn't find those blasted  adorable little badges that I'm supposed to be earning today.  Really?  I've had all my Stamp-a-faire stuff together all this time and now I can't find the badges.  I did finally find them and was ready to get started. 

So here's the card I made along with Nicole on her first video!   So pretty!  I love it when I can make a card that looks like Nichole's.  This is one that definitely looks better in real life, but they all do when I'm the photographer.  I'm warmed up and ready to move on to the ribbon!

Stamp-a-faire Eve!

Good evening, everyone!  I'm excited about spending the day tomorrow (okay, I know it's technically after midnight so it's really TODAY... but I need to sleep before then) at my crafty desk with lots of ink, paper and Papertrey stamps!   Last year, I headed to Cincinnati for Stamp-a-faire and was totally planning this year's trip on my way home.  It was a long drive, so I had lots of time to think.  This year, though, Stamp-a-faire is an online event.   I'm supposed to show myself getting ready, but, since I didn't have to pack anything and no one is coming over, I don't have that much "getting ready" to show.  Nichole has been tempting us to eat s'mores tonight in honor of the camping theme to this year's event.  Unfortunately, these are the s'mores I wanted.  Go ahead.  Click.  I'll wait.... I found them on Pinterest.  Pinterest can really get a girl in trouble.  Since I saw these the other day, they are honestly all I can think about.  They look soooooooooo good.  So, obviously, I couldn't make them.  Really.  I'm stamping ALONE tomorrow.  I'd eat EVERY.  LAST.  ONE.  But you'd better believe that I will make them one day.   As soon as I can justify it.   ;)

See you back tomorrow with lots of craftiness!

June Papertrey Blog Hope -- Card #2

I decided that I should make another card since I had everything out.  So here's my card #2:

Here I used the same colors as my first card (Harvest Gold, Aqua Mist, and New Leaf).  I stamped and punched the smaller flower outline 3 times and then colored with my Copics.  I originally planned to do the strip of 3 squares and the sentiment.  But I had that butterfly sitting on my desk that I had cut and stamped when I was contemplating my first card, AND  I felt that my card needed something else -- so I added the butterfly and some of the little faceted stickers that have a gemstone look to add a little more interest to the card.  I think it worked!  I think I like this one more than the first. 

Thanks so much for looking!

June Papertrey Blog Hop

This month's inspiration photo included the colors Harvest Gold, New Leaf, and Aqua Mist.  I further challenged myself to use my new dies for the beautiful Pretty Peonies set and to do something else I hardly ever do -- use only one stamp set for my card(s).   Here is my first card:

For this one, I stamped the outlined peony in New Leaf ink onto Aqua Mist card stock to create the background.  I die cut the flower and the frame and stamped the frame with New Leaf ink and added the sentiment in Basic Gray (SU).  I colored the die cut peony with Copics.  I punched a little strip of Harvest Gold (SU scallop punch) to peek out from the bottom and also cut a strip to break up the background a bit.  I added a few peeks of yellow to the centers of the flowers in the stamped background as well as 3 rhinestones colored to match with my Copics.

Thanks for looking!

Teacher Appreciation

I've been making cards all week for teacher appreciation and made one tonight that I thought I'd share.  I've been having fun with Papertrey's Trendy Tree Tops stamps and dies and have used those for most of my teacher appreciation cards.  Most of my cards have been following the same basic layout, like this one:

 And this one:

But I needed something special for the art teacher.  After all, she is an ART teacher.  I was never any good at art, but now that I have stamps, inks, dies -- you know, the RIGHT TOOLS -- maybe now I can get a good grade.  So I changed it up a little and did this...

I really hope I'll pass kindergarten art class.  (There will be a little bribe tucked inside for insurance!) 

Thanks for looking!

Amy

All supplies from Papertrey Ink. 

Papertrey March Blog Hop

 This month's blog hop challenge was to create something inspired by this photo:

 

I have not had much time lately to do a scrapbook page, so when yesterday afternoon turned out to be rainy, I took advantage of the time indoors to do one with this piece of inspiration.  Here are my pages:

Kind of sad that these are pictures of last year's spring break since this year's spring break is next week.  Hmmm... I think I need to dedicate a little more time to the scrapbook!  

Here are the Papertrey products I used:  

Ink:  Hawaiian Shores, Aqua Mist, Summer Sunrise

Paper:  Stampers Select White, Hawaiian Shores, Bitty Dots (in Lemon Tart)

Stamps:  Mehndi Medallion, Library Ledger (and LL Year Additions), Tiny Tags, Tag Its #7 and Tag Its #12

Dies:  Tiny Tags, Simple Circles Border, Buttoned Up #1 die

Because sometimes it's worth it to go digital!

I love to play with paper, scissors, ink, and stamps as much as even more than the next girl.  But sometimes it's nice to sit down at the computer and make it all happen -- especially when I need to make duplicates of something.   When Stampin' Up introduced My Digital Studio, it didn't take me long to decide that I needed to add it -- the digital element -- to my crafting world.   I certainly haven't regretted that decision. 

Today, I want to show off the birthday party invitation I made for my little guy's 6th birthday party.   You see, this little guy of mine is absolutely obsessed with Legos and most especially with their Ninjago line.  He was dead set on having a Ninjago party.  Well, that would be great except for one small thing -- there just isn't any Ninjago birthday party line -- no plates, cups, stickers, napkins...nothing.   So what's a good mommy to do?  Well, 2 years ago, I could have convinced him that he wanted a different theme.  But not now that this child is 6.    Oh, no.  6 is stubborn sure of himself.   So I did the next best thing:  I went to Pinterest.   I found cute stuff that other much-more-creative-than-me mommies had done for their precious little Ninjago fans.  And one of them had used the free wallpapers from the Lego site to create her stuff.  (She just happened to be a graphic designer.)   "Ooooooo..." I said.   "I can do that with My Digital Studio!"    So here's the invitation I created:

I'm very proud of my Ninjago punched stars.  They were pretty easy to accomplish.  I downloaded wallpaper of the 4 Ninjas from the Lego site.  I saved each image in a folder.  I found where the Designer Series Paper is stored (in a backgrounds folder) for My Digital Studio.  I created a folder called "My Photos" within that folder.  Then I moved my Ninjago photos over to my new folder.  Now I can use those pictures anywhere I would use a background paper -- inside of a punch, for instance.   I then inserted the star punch into my project (4 times for the 4 Ninjas).  When I went to the "Paper fill" option for each punch, I selected the picture from "My Photos" that I wanted.  To adjust the picture placement, I simply double clicked on the star and dragged the picture to the best placement within the star punch.  The one problem I was left to solve was that the pictures weren't large enough to fill all the points of the stars.  To solve that problem, I put in another star punch (layered behind each incomplete star) and filled it with an appropriate color using the color picking tool.  

I printed these and mounted onto Not Quite Navy cardstock and sent them out to his friends.  The best part?   When my little guy saw these, those big brown eyes lit up and he asked, "Can I have one, Mommy?"