Paper Girl

Happy {Belated} Halloween!

So, how was your Halloween?  Did you get a lot of trick or treaters?  We, sadly, did not.  We only had 2 kids and they came together!!  Needless to say, there was a lot of candy left.  I sent half home with my boyfriend and we both ended up taking the extras to work.  Apparently, a lot of folks around here didn't get too many trick or treaters because there was a lot of candy at my office yesterday :).

I have some Halloween pumpkins to share with you today.  A couple of weeks ago, we spotted some books that had pumpkin carving templates and we decided to give it a try.  The weekend before Halloween, while driving around, we stopped at a pumpkin patch and picked out 3 pumpkins.  One was a huge 28 lb. pumpkin!  We carved the big one that weekend, so here's our first attempt at pumpkin carving!

On Saturday, this past weekend, we carved the rest (and I already had another small pumpkin for decor in my house, so we carved that one too).  We set them up on the railing in front of my place:

 

We also carved some fake pumpkins that we picked up at Michaels!  Some of the templates/designs for carving are rather intricate and we didn't want to carve those in real pumpkins only to have to throw them away a week later.  We did a few small pumpkins for practice, so I'll spare you from those!  We had a 12" fake pumpkin and we picked a wolf for the carving:

Pretty cool, huh?!  I have to give credit where it's due...I didn't carve any of this.  It was all my boyfriend!  He spent 5 hours on Saturday carving this guy.  I definitely thinking carving the fake pumpkins is harder than real pumpkins - doing the curves is very difficult.  My attempts on the little pumpkins didn't turn out nearly as well.  I think we were both surprised at how well this turned out!  Now, we can keep it year after year and add a new one each year going forward.  We raided our local Michaels last night to stock up on more fake pumpkins for next year!

I'm going to be busy this week editting pictures from various things we attended in October.  I want to put together another mini book, so hopefully next week I can get back in my crafty loft and get busy with some paper!  In the mean time, have a great week!

 

 

Autumn Wreath

Hello!  I don't know about you, but around here the colors of autumn are at their peak and it's gorgeous!  We headed to Kent, CT this past weekend since Yankee magazine ranked it as the #1 Fall destination for leaf peeping.  Surprisingly, there were still a lot of green trees intermixed with the changing trees.  So...we're going to head back there this weekend (it's only about 45 minutes north of where I live). 

All of these gorgeous colors inspired me to bring a little inside, so over the past 2 evenings, I've put together an autumn wreath.

This was really easy and a pretty inexpensive project!  I bought a 9" foam circle and wide brown satin ribbon from Michaels.  You can't see it in this picture, but I wrapped the foam circle in the brown ribbon to give it more of a finished look.  Next, I used 4 different colors of cardstock (the light peach and yellow look very similar, so it kind of looks like I only used 3 colors!) and cut out the leaf shapes with PTI's set of leaf dies.  I then used the coordinating leaf stamp set to stamp on the veins of the leaves in dark brown ink.  After that, I used several inks (same colors as the cardstock) and added some color to each of the leaves (my favorites are the yellow ones with red inking!).  Finally, I crinkled up each leaf by wadding it into a ball, smoothed it back out and added some tea ink to really pull out the crinkles.

To attach my leaves to the foam circle, I just used straight pins (this was a no glue project!).  I made sure to attach the pins underneath other leaves so you can't see them.  After I went around the circle and covered it with leaves, I added a bow to the top and attached a long piece of ribbon to the back in order to hang it on my wall.  And again, I used straight pins to attach the bow and the ribbon to the back.

Here's a close up of the leaves to give you a better idea of how those turned out:

That's it for me!  I have a knitting project I finished recently that I plan to share with you.  Hopefully, I can get that photographed today or tomorrow and post it later this week.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Supplies:

• Cardstock: More Mustard, Peach Parfait, Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze (Stampin' Up!)
• Stamps: Leaf Prints (Papertrey Ink)
• Ink: Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, Cajun Craze (Stampin' Up!); Tea Ink (Papertrey Ink)
• Accessories:  Ribbon, 9" Foam Ring (Michaels)

A Mini Book...

I'm not a scrapbooker...while I admire the work of those who put together fabulous albums documenting their lives, I get a little too overwhelmed with all the detail and options involved in getting a final product.  Despite that, I do have a desire to gather reminders and photos from various events into something I can look back on in years to come.  I've been inspired by the mini books I've seen several bloggers create, so I decided to try my hand at one for a weekend getaway that my guy & I went on back in July.

We went for a long weekend over the 4th of July weekend to Burlington, VT.  We did some hiking, watched some fireworks, and checked out some sites.  Along the way, I saved everything and took lots of pictures.  A couple of weeks ago, I finally set aside some time to work on a mini book for our weekend.

Here are a few pictures of how I put it all together:

A few notes on what I did:

• I created a tabbed page for each day and listed out the itinerary for the day.  All photos, memorabilia, etc. that I gathered from the activities for that day were organized in chronological order by day.
• I adhered photos back to back so the back of the photo is never exposed.  This also gave the "pages" a bit more substance.
• For any ticket stubs, I just punched holes in them and added them into the book.
• I added journaling through various manners:  washi tape on the photos, created tags for longer journaling, used other diecuts to create journaling labels

*EDIT* I've had a couple of questions on how I made the tabs.  Apologies for forgetting to mention this originally!  Papertrey Ink's July edition of the Color Couture set included templates for mini tabbed folders.  I printed those onto Kraft cardstock and cut out the half of the folder that contained the tab.  Here's a link to the Color Couture page (HERE), just scroll down to July to find the one I used.

Once I figured out how I wanted to organize this, it came together rather quickly, which is ideal for me.  I definitely like this better than a traditional scrapbook (since it's so quick) and I like the simplicity of this little book. 

A few weeks ago, we went up to the Berkshires for a couple of days, so I have another mini book I need to put together!  I just got my pictures back from Shutterfly, so hopefully, I will get this done in another week or two.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Better Late than Never...

Hello!  I'm wayyyy behind in my posting!  I actually do have several things that I've finished recently, but just haven't had the time to do all that it takes to get it posted (photographing, editting, uploading, blah, blah, blah).  If today were New Year's day, my resolution would be to stay on top of my posting a little more!  Apologies, apologies...

Now, if you've forgiven me for my bad blogging, onto today's post!

I haven't made a card in some time and I had some new goodies to play with, so I decided to get in the autumn mood by making an autumn card (I made this about 3 weeks ago before it really felt like autumn...now, it's in full swing here in Connecticut!).

For the top layer, I used one of my new favorite stamp sets from Stampin' Up! current Holiday Mini called Paisley Prints.  I inked up the leaf stamp with several different colors and randomly stamped them on Kraft cardstock.  I then ran that through my Big Shot with the PTI canvas impression plate and roughed up the edges with my edging tool.  Finally, I aged the roughened edges with some of the dark brown ink.  I wanted to give it a little rustic look to go with the autumn theme.  I rounded the bottom patterend paper and layered it on top of my leaf layer.  I wrapped some of the new Stampin' Up! crocheted ribbon (loving that stuff!) around the seam and tied it off in a pretty knot.  Finally, I used the Tiny Tags stamp set and punch to create a little sentiment:

Have you been getting out and enjoying the lovely fall?  I love this time of year!  October is my favorite month.  Fortunately, except for some rain, we've had some lovely warm weather in Connecticut this month.  That's definitely helped with getting out and enjoying things! 

This past weekend, we went to an event called "The Blaze" that is going on every weekend in October about 45 minutes away (in Croton-on-Hudson, NY for those that are local).  They have 4,000 carved pumpkins set up around the grounds at an historic mansion.  Some are your traditional carved pumpkins, but they have also taken it a step further and stacked pumpkins to create huge "sculptures"!  The carvings in the pumpkins form the image.  Some of these structures were 10 - 15 feet tall! Here are a few pics to give you an idea:

[click on the picture to see these larger for a better view!]

Picture #1:  Sunflower Stalks (these were probably about 15 feet tall)

Picture #2:  I thought these were like intricate baskets.  Not sure if that's right, but whatever they are, the carvings are amazing.

Picture #3:  A dinosaur (this was also enormous!)

 

I'll be back later this week to share a mini book I created of a weekend getaway we took back in the summer.  In the meantime, enjoy your autumn and hopefully, you can spend sometime outside!

 

Supplies:

• Cardstock: Kraft (Papertrey Ink); Early Espresso, More Mustard (Stampin' Up!)
• DSP: Build a Bear Workshop Pawsitively Prints II (Stampin' Up!)
• Stamps: Paisley Prints, Teeny Tiny Wishes (Stampin' Up!)
• Ink: Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, Cajun Craze (Stampin' Up!)
• Accessories:  Crochet Trim (Stampin' Up!)
• Tools:  Jewelry Tag Medium Punch (Stampin' Up!); Canvas Impression Plate (Papertrey Ink)

 

All About Me Tag Book

Hello & happy Friday!  Are you ready for the weekend?  I definitely am!  It's going to be busy, so it'll fly by, but I have several fun things planned to do, so while it may be quick, it should be lots of fun. 

Today's project is actually a prelude to bigger project.  I signed up to do an online class at Big Picture Scrapbooking and it starts next week.  They have some fun classes that you can sign up for and then you just get daily emails with your "assignment".  This class is called "Me:  The Abriged Version" and just involves creating a book about yourself. It follows the concept of an encyclopedia, so we'll create one page per letter and use the letter to come up with a word that describes something about ourselves. To get started, the instructor provided a PDF file with tags for each letter.  The pre class assignment was to cut them out and assemble them into a tag book.  Decorating the book is optional, but that's part of the fun, right!  Between now and the beginning of the class, we're supposed to use this to jot down anything we think of that describes us for each letter.  This should streamline the process of actually creating the book - no thinking, just pick a word from our lists!

Here's the front of my completed tag book:

I added a piece of my patterned paper to the bottom (and I don't know the manufacturer, sorry!) and layered that on top of a red scallop border.  I tied around my favorite ribbon these days and inked around the edges.  I add a little more, I stamped a red flower to the top before I punched out the hole.

I kept  the inside pages simple since I'll need room to write on them:

The letter (in the bottom right corner) and the lines were already included in the PDF file of the tags.  After cutting them out, I inked around the edges, added a scroll to the bottom, and added that flower to the top before punching the hole.

I used an O-ring to hold it together, so now I can keep this in my bag for the next week and jot things down as I think of them!  I'll share the book once I finish that...should be a fun project!

Have a great weekend and as always, thanks for stopping by!

 

Supplies:

• Cardstock: Rustic White  (Papertrey Ink); Real Red (Stampin' Up!)
• Designer Series Paper:  Unknown
  
• Stamps: All About You, Fancy Flourishes (Papertrey Ink)
• Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Poppy Parade, Marina Mist (Stampin' Up!)
• Accessories:  Ribbon (Stampin' Up!)
• Tools:  O-Ring (Staples)

 

Baby Card!

Happy Friday!  After today, no more baby posts for awhile!  Today's post is the card I made to go along with the gifts I've been sharing over the past couple of days.

I used colors that cooridinated with the gifts I made so the entire package works together.  The stroller and baby are from a new Stampin' Up! set (Baby Bundle) and the circles I used to create the patterned layer is from a PTI background set (Retro).

I used PTI's latest Mat Stack die to create the center cut piece.  After die cutting that, I stamped on the stroller, baby, and sentiment.  I colored those with Copics and layered it on my card with dimensionals.  I looped some ribbon underneath the edges and topped those with a couple of coordinating buttons.

The nice thing about shipping everything in a box is that the card won't get squished by the mail!  It should arrive nice & dimensional :).

Anything fun planned for the weekend?  We have a long weekend on tap here and while I'm sad to see this as the traditional end of summer, I'm ready for a little break!  The weather is supposed to be nice, but no clue what we'll be up to yet!  Have fun!

 

Supplies:

• Cardstock: Vintage Cream, Berry Sorbet, Kraft, Sweet Blush  (Papertrey Ink)
• Stamps: Background Basics: Retro (Papertrey Ink); Baby Bundle, Teeny Tiny Wishes (Stampin' Up!)
  
• Ink: Berry Sorbet (Papertrey Ink); Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko)
• Accessories:  Buttons, Twine (Papertrey Ink); Ribbon (Stampin' Up!); Copics
  
• Tools:  Mat Stack #4 (Papertrey Ink)

Baby Gifts - Part 3

Howdy!  Today, I'm wrapping up the posts for the gifts I made for one of my friends that recently had a baby (although, I'll still have one more post tomorrow - the card!).  On Tuesday I shared the personalized frame, yesterday I shared the mini scrapbook, so that means today, I have cute little booties!

I knitted these baby booties for her last week.  They are just like the ones I made for another friend's baby a couple of weeks ago, but since these are for a girl, I added some crocheted flowers to "girlify" them! (I didn't crochet the flowers, I already had those on hand).  I love working cables, so this baby bootie pattern is a definite keeper for me!

I added a personalized tag at the top (with a stamp on the back with my name).  The "hand knit for you" stamp is from a new Stampin' Up! set for knitters. 

Making these 2 pairs of booties recently has really gotten me back into knitting.  I go through phases of wanting to knit every minute of the day to not picking up my needles for months!  I guess with autumn just around the corner, it's fitting that I'm getting the itch!  I'll be sharing my projects on here going forward.  Right now, I just started a cabled cowl.  I think that's going to be my thing for this winter - cowls instead of scarves! 

Enjoy the day and stop back in tomorrow to check out the card I made to go along with the gifts from this week!

 

 

Baby Gifts - Part 2

Ready for more baby?  Today, I'm continuing with sharing a few gifts I made for a friend that recently had a baby girl.  On board today, is a mini scrapbook!  I altered this slightly from the one I did for Baby Noah a few weeks back.  The main change I made was to chop off the spine of the board book and punch holes in the pages to use rings to hold it together.  I found with the last book I made, if you barely have anything with any dimension within the book, it's difficult to close and I think the ribbon made it slightly more cumbersome.  So...I got rid of the spine for this one and I like it much better!

Within the pages, I pretty much used the same format as the previous book, but made a few slight changes here and there.  Since Charlotte has already been born, I was able to personalize it a bit more by adding in her birthdate on one of the journaling tags.  So, without further ado, here's the book, page by page:

[To view a larger picture, click on any picture to launch in a new window]

Hopefully, I made this quick and simple enough for her to update despite have 5 little ones to manage!  As with the other mini baby scrapbook post, I used so many different materials for this, it's hard for me to list them all individually.  If you have questions on any of the products I've used, please feel free to leave me a comment and I'll get the information for you.

 

Baby Gifts - Part 1

Hello!  Today, I'm kicking off another round of homemade baby gift posts similar to what I did a couple of weeks ago.  These are for a good friend of mine that had her 5th baby at the end of July (yes, I said 5th!  That's not a typo!).  I'm a little late getting these to her, but better late than never, right? :)

First up, is a personalized frame for Baby Charlotte.  It's similar to the one I did a few weeks ago for Baby Noah, only this time it's all girly!

This is a slightly different frame than what I used for Baby Noah, but it started out unfinished and I believe the material was MDF instead of wood (which I think is a lot easier to work with!).  You can pick these up for a $1 or $2 at Michaels, so they're a bargain when it comes to gift giving.  I started out by painting the entire frame pink (2 coats).  Then, I painted the top half cream (after the pink dried completely).  I lightly sanded around the edges of the cream half so some of the pink shows through.  I wrapped a ribbon around the frame, over the line separating the 2 colors.  For her name, I heat embossed the letters with white embossing powder using PTI's Outline Alphabet set.  The felt flowers are from Stampin' Up! (from the previous mini catalog).

And that's it!  Tomorrow I'll share the mini Scrapbook that I put together for her.  I changed it up a little from the one I did for Baby Noah, but the concept is similar.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

• Cardstock: NA
• Stamps: Outline Alphabet (Papertrey Ink)
• Ink: Versamark
• Accessories:  White Embossing Powder (Papertrey Ink); Ribbon, Felt Flowers (Stampin' Up!); Paint (unknown)
  
• Tools:  Heat Gun; Frame (Michaels)

It's been awhile!

Hello!  It's been awhile since I last posted...sorry about that!  This month has been surprisingly very busy and blogging just kind of fell down on the list.  I do have projects to share, so hopefully, I'll be getting back on board this week to get them posted.  I have a card to share today...it's a birthday card for my mom.  Her birthday was last week (and yes, I sent this to her last week, I just didn't get around to posting it until now!).

 

My inspiration for this card was one of Nichole Heady's card for the release of the All About You stamp set a couple of months ago (click HERE to check out her card).  I used a different color for the center of my flowers and I added blue dots to tie in with the blue layer of cardstock on which I matted that piece.  Like Nichole, after stamping that background piece, I ran it through the Big Shot with a textured plate.  I added a piece of ribbon that I'm loving right now (brand new from Stampin' Up!) and used that to create the "leaves".  The blue cardstock and dots are another favorite of a new SU! color - Marina Mist.  It's a perfect blue!

I like how summery this card is and since we're down to the last few weeks of summer (can you believe it!), I'm trying to milk it for all it's worth!  This past weekend was gorgeous in Connecticut, so we spent lots of time outside - beach on Friday, an island beach on Saturday, and a great nature walk on Sunday!  But, now it's back to work and the real world!

I'll be back more this week with another baby project for another friend.  It's basically the same projects I posted a couple of weeks ago for my other friend, but this time it's all GIRL!  I did make a few changes, so be sure to stop back for a visit!

 

Supplies:

• Cardstock: Stamper's Select White  (Papertrey Ink); Daffodil Delight, Kraft, Marina Mist (Stampin' Up!)
• Stamps: All About You, Birthday Bash Sentiments, Polka Dot Basics (Papertrey Ink)
• Ink: Berry Sorbet (Papertrey Ink); Pear Pizzazz, Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight (Stampin' Up!)
• Accessories:  Buttons, Twine (Papertrey Ink); Ribbon (Stampin' Up!)
  
• Tools:  Linen & Canvas Impression Plate, Beautiful Blooms #2 dies (Papertrey Ink)