PTI Blog Hop: January 2016

Monday, January 25, 2016

It's been ages since I have participated in a PTI Blog Hop. This was the inspirational photo for this month.

This is my take on the challenge. I pulled out two items I Have neglected: The Round Repeats stamp set and the Chevron Die.

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Thanks for taking a peek.

Valentine for Retroskect 198 Challenge

Friday, January 22, 2016

    I love the sketch for this week's Retrosketch # 198 challenge.

  I decided to make another Valentine card.

                                         Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Retrosketches # 198

Popping in with a Christmas card for two challenges.  My layout is based upon this week's retrosketch # 198.

The challenge theme this week at Merry Monday is hot beverages. The only hot beverage stamp I have is from PTI's Scen-timentals stamp set. I think it was the perfect size for the retrosketch.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Make It Monday # 237 Matchbook

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

      Yesterday when I went to the store to buy some little "goodie" to make for this week's  Make It Monday sponsored by PTI, I got side tracked when I spotted these.

Nothing like rushing the season. I never did pick up anything for Valentine's Day. So instead of making a matchbook Valenitne, I made a matchbook with an Easter theme.

My daughter loves these mini-eggs.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Party Popper Birthday Card

Saturday, January 16, 2016

          I have several birthdays in January. This is the card I made for my brother-in-law.

 Aqua Mist and Ocean Tides are good colors for a masculine card.  I think the party popper set is perfect for an early January birthday.

I am submitting this card to Seize The Birthday.The topping this week is Clean & Simple.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Freshly Made Sketch # 219: Sending Hugs

January 14, 2016

 Just popping in with a Valentine Card inspired by  the challenge at Freshly Made Sketches #219.

This one was designed by Cindy Hall.

My card is a tri-fold card. I don't make those too often, but it worked well with this sketch. Still using my pattern paper. This is a record for me.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Masculine Birthday Card for Colour Q Challenge

January 13, 2016
   I have quite a few birthdays in January & February. The majority of them are for the males in my family. I always find this the most difficult card to make. However, when I purchased the Make It Market Birthday Pop Up kit last April, I promised myself that this year all the recipients would get some version of this kit. When I saw the colors for this week's challenge at Colour Q I though they would make a perfect masculine card.

I just used a tad of silver on my card embossing the balloons' strings and bow. I should have embossed the little tab too instead of stamping that in black.

I am submitting my card to the challenge at Casology  where the cue word is:

Lifting the tab, the recipient opens the card cover to reveal a special message.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Christmas

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Just popping in to post two Christmas cards I made for two different challenges.  Both were quick to put together.The first is for the Merry Monday challenge where the theme this week is plaid.  I am not a plaid girl. At first I thought I would pass on this week's challenge, but then I remembered a had a piece of pattern paper that was plaid. Since it seemed rustic to me I paired it with the Rustic Wreath die.

I am also going to submit this to the ABC Christmas Challenge where the theme is anything goes. 

My second card is a CAS card for Muse Challenge # 143.  Here is this week's muse.

I was inspired by the white and the stamped image & sentiment.

I used a bit of Wink of Stella on my card too.
Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Retrosketches #196: Valentine Love Bug

 I'm on a roll. One of my New Year Resolutions was to keep my blog active since I neglected it in 2015. So far I've been pretty consistent.  In addition, I have been using more of my pattern paper. Using it always poses a challenge for me. Besides, I hate to give it up despite the fact that I have tons.
I'm trying to get a head start on my Valentines along with the many birthdays I have in January & February.

When I saw this adorable sketch for this week's challenge at Retrosketches, I knew I had to play along.

Having a limited amount of Valentine stamps besides endless hearts, I pulled out the love bug from the 2010 Love Tags from PTI. (This is a vault set now)

The hearts are from three different dies: Tiny Tags, Love Lives Here and Notched Heart Banner die.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

A Valentine for Muse Challenge # 147

Sunday, January 10, 2016

When I saw this lovely card created by my fellow blogger Joyce M, I decided to check out the challenge that inspired her. It's called the Muse. This week's muse is by Michele Ferguson

Here's my interpretation.

You can see I was inspired by the heart pattern paper, a die cut focal point and the popped up image.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Happy Birthday DH: 2016

Saturday, January 9, 2016

      I can't believe that I already have my husband's birthday card ready and his birthday is almost a week away. Staying home actually lets me get some card making done. Our master bathroom is being gutted and I need to stay close by to make all those remodeling decisions. Since cleaning would be furtile, making cards is the way to spend my time.

Now for the inside.

The inside is the real deal, don't ya think? Definitely a surprise, not what you were expecting from the simple cover.

I am also submitting this to two other challenges Seize the Birthday(anything goes) and
Time Out # 47 where the theme is birthday. I didn't include the twist of sponging.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Make It Monday 2015 Al La Carte

Friday, January 8, 2016

Playing along today with Pti's Make it Monday: 2015 A la Carte.  I chose  #215: BRINGING THE INSIDE OUT by Danielle Flanders.Loved this technique and will have to use it more often. Didn't bring as much of the inside out as Danielle did in her card as there is no die for the flowers in the stamp set With All My Heart. I am not a fan of fussy cutting either.

     

Here's a close up of the Inside coming out.

I do love the way this turned out. I was planning on giving it to my husband, but I think it is too feminine. So I'll send it to my daughter.

I used the color palette from Colour Q Chalange # 323 so I will be submitting it to that challenge as well.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

A Christmas Card Replicate

  I've been busy taking down my Christmas decorations. It's finally done. Before I discarded the cards I received, I sorted through them to see if there were any I might replicate. I found several.
This is the first one I picked.

 Here is my take.

I am submitting this card to two challenges. ColourQ Challenge 323 has a beautiful palette this week.

In addition I am submitting it to ABC Christmas Challenge where anything goes this week.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Feast of the Three Kings

   In honor of today's feast of The Three Kings, I made my first Christmas card for 2016. I have a lot of trouble with white space. When I see it on other people's cards, I love it. But when I make a card, something just doesn't look right. I had to add something around the sentiment. I took one of the stamps from O' Tannenbaum to add the small stars around the top of the card. The right side looks a little smudged in the picture, but it doesn't look bad in person.

  

There are 2 Christmas challenges I am submitting my card to: Weekly Christmas Card Challenge and ABC Christmas Challenge where the theme this week is Anything Goes.  Why don't you join either of these Christmas challenges to get a head start for 2016.

I am also submitting this to the Less is More # 27 challenge where the theme is neutrals.
Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Barrettes

Just a quick post of some barrettes I made for my granddaughter, Olivia. She loves purple. The one with the button is a copy of  one found on Erin Lincoln's blog.

 I just love the color combination of Aqua Mist and winter Wisteria

I used the die from Beautiful Blooms II #1 on this one.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Stamping Class:Floral Card Set

Since I have retired I've been hosting card making classes for 6-8 teachers at the high school I previously taught at. This helps me fund my monthly purchases of PTI goodies. They usually make 4 cards.  However, last month I offered a session to make a gift card set they might want to use as a Christmas present. I tried to keep the cards CAS. I had a variety of sentiments from which  they could choose. They made two of each card. Here are my samples.

 

The birthday card:

Sympathy:

Thank You:

Thinking of you/Get well:

I used the clear boxes PTI's stamps arrive in. The tag for the box was a case of Nichole's tag.

At the end of the class, everyone decided the card set was just too pretty to give away.
Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Happy New Year 2016

Happy New Year!  Wishing everyone a healthy and happy New Year. One of my crafting resolutions this year is to keep on top of my blog. It has been so neglected. I've been crafting. I just find it so tedious to remember to take a picture and upload it to the computer.
Here's a card I made recently using the paper and dies from the Make it Market mini kit: Garden Gild. Using the papers in the kit makes for a fast card. Aqua Mist, Spring Moss and Vintage Cream felt were used for the die cuts.

Thanks for taking time to visit my blog.