Summer Card Camp 2011, Week TWO!

Phew!  I am just making this assignment by the skin on my teeth!  I am such a bad blogger, so I hope you forgive me!  However, I am not without an excuse...  This past week I was lucky enough to have my sister, her husband, and two girls visit us in Baltimore from Nebraska.  We tried to see it all in just the 5 short days they had here with us.

We went to Hershey, Pennsylvania,

 Washington D.C.,

 Baltimore's Inner Harbor,

 Asseteague Island,

 and Ocean City, Maryland!

  (I'm exhausted just listing it all...)

Anywho, I threw these cards together one night and just got them photographed today.  Again I do not  have a supply list and have been thinking of ways to make sure I can remember everything from now on.  Maybe if I had a post it for each card and wrote down the supplies as I used them?  Any suggestions are welcome.  Also, I've noticed how some bloggers have small photos or icons of their products they used.  How cool is that?!?!  I'm going to have to look into it!

Okay, here is this weeks color challenge:

Card #1

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink (white), CTMH (other)
Ink: CTMH
Stamp: CTMH

Card#2

Cardstock: PTI (Kraft, light green, white), CTMH (dark green)
Stamps: PTI (stripes, sentiment), CTMH (silhouettes)
Ink: CTMH
Die Cuts: PTI and Spellbinders
Twine: CTMH (hemp)

Card #3

Cardstock: PTI and CTMH
Stamps: PTI (clouds), CTMH (sentiments)
Ink: CTMH
Die Cuts: Cricut 

Oh, and we have visitors arriving tomorrow for another week!  I hope I can get into my craft room and get my cards done for next week!  

Until then my friends!

Summer Card Camp 2011, Week One!

Lucky, lucky me!  I am so happy that I won a spot in the Online Summer Card Camp 2011!  Each week we are given an assignment and asked to post it in a class gallery for the chance to win prizes!  This week we were given a color challenge and asked to make a card with these colors.

The first card I CASE'd from Jennifer McGuire's blog, just to get my creative juices flowing.  I am ashamed to admit that I can't seem to find her card that I used for inspiration as I found it on my iPhone and since then I have lost it! 

 Next I decided to use my all too often neglected Cricut Machine to make a round card!

And last, but not least, the Cricut was used again to make an Argyle card.  

I really had fun with this and I cannot wait until next week's challenge!

Make It Monday Challenge #9: Heat Embossing.

Well, I'm a little late on this project, as it is now Saturday...  But honestly, I've been a little busy!  Spring time proves to be a busy time of year, getting the yard in order after the long winter, nursing my dog back to health after his back injury, and hosting my husband's surprise party that went off without a hitch!  Usually we have our children in Lacrosse and T-Ball leagues, but we decided to take a season off.  Sometimes it seems like we structure their time too much, push them a little too hard, and the family feels a little stressed from it all.  For some reason, I've decided that it is time for a change.  I've given up Facebook for Lent, decided it was time to use what I have, as far as shampoo, body wash, and make-up goes.  Does anyone else have a gazillion bottles of half used toiletries filling up their cabinets?  I vowed not to buy anything until I use what I have, including all the mini bottles accumulated from hotel stays over the years.  The recycling guys probably wonder why I have so many bottles in the bins each week!  Ha!  That being said, it is much harder to apply that philosophy to paper crafting.  I figured I wouldn't buy any new paper until I used what I had, I'd either use my stamps, or sell them, etc.  I must say that I am proud of my efforts, however, sometimes I do slip...  I am only human, right?

On to the Make It Monday Challenge!  I used what was in my stash to create a card following these guidelines:

If you are joining along this week, here are the details concerning the Make It Monday Challenge.

--A new Make It Monday Challenge & video will go up every Monday morning at 9am EST.

--Create a project utilizing your take on the challenge.  Your project must use at least one Papertrey product of some kind and heat embossing

--Post your project on your blog, in your gallery or on any other photo-hosting site (such as photobucket or flickr).

-You will have until 7am, Monday, April 11th, to add your link to the list to be eligible to win.  And you can enter as many times as you like.

--We will be tweeting and posting on our Facebook page every night (between 5-9pm EST) highlighting a Featured Project.  These tweets/Facebook postings will just be a shout-out regarding projects that caught our eye.  The tweets/Facebook postings no longer have any special merit regarding the actual contest.

--One randomly selected winner will be chosen from ALL the entries onMonday, April 11th, after 7am.  The winner will be posted here on this blog post, on Twitter and Facebook.  The randomly selected winner will get to select a FREE Papertrey stamp set of their choice!

 Good luck to everyone and we look forward to seeing your projects!

 I made the card base from American Crafts White Textured Cardstock and layered a piece of vellum (Staples) stamped PTI's Background Basics: Sheet Music in Tuxedo Black.

 I used Spellbinder's Nestabilities Labels One Die for the main image and stamped the flower image from PTI's Friendship Jar: Spring Fillers.  I colored the image with Copic Markers.  I then heat embossed the frame with PTI's Vintage Labels using Versamark Ink and Ranger's Silver Embossing Powder.

 The tiny tag was die cut from PTI's Jar Label Die, the sentiment was stamped in Blush Ink from CTMH using PTI's Friendship Jar stamp set.  I heat embossed the background with Versamark Ink and Ranger's Clear Embossing Powder using PTI's Background Basics: Sheet Music.  The frame was embossed with Versamark Ink and Ranger's Silver Embossing Powder using PTI's Friendship Jar stamp set.  

The pink organdy ribbon and hemp twine are from CTMH.

My First Blog Hop! Papertrey Ink and Embroidery Floss!

Well, here it goes!  This novice blogger is going to jump right in and play with the big kids...

I fear the fact that people will see this.  Like really, really, talented people.  

I hurried through the card and now through this post.  It has been a really busy week.  My poor dachshund was diagnosed with intervertebral disc disease and has required lots of care.  I'm hoping to avoid surgery or paralysis.

My husband's 35th birthday is on Sunday and I am single handedly planning a surprise party (shhhh!!!) and making all of the food from scratch.  Don't worry, he won't read this blog!  I've got homemade ice cream in the freezer (vanilla bean, peanut butter, and pear caramel so far), along with his cake (banana split!), and some fauxreos (fake oreos!).  I hope to get most of the cooking done tomorrow, so I can finally be that hostess...  You know, the one who has it all done BEFORE the party starts???  I'd like to be her one day.

Anyway, you're here for the card, not to hear me jabber on!  So here she is:

Yes, I realized after the fact that I stamped 'oxox' instead of 'xoxo'...  {blush}

Here I used fun foam to die cut flowers, which was a Make It Monday challenge a few weeks back.

A close up of my mistake...

My inspiration for this card was actually the cover of the new Cricut Magazine!  

Supplies I used:

Cardstock- PTI: Dark Chocolate, Hawaiian Shores, Kraft.  CTMH: White.

Vellum- Staples.

Stamps - PTI: Signature Greetings, Tiny Tags, Background Basics: Botanicals. 
Ink - PTI: Hawaiian Shores. CTMH:  Bubblegum, Blush, Sweet Leaf, Bamboo, Buttercup. Memento:  Tuxedo Black.
Button- CTMH: ButtercupEmbroidery floss- DMC: White
Dies - PTI: Beautiful Blooms II, Tiny Tags. #1. Spellbinders: Nestabilities. 

ProvoCraft- Cricut: Cindy Loo (for cutting vellum doily) 

Make New Friends, But Keep The Old...

I was fortunate enough to be able to meet a few 'friends' from the Papertrey Ink Forum this past weekend.  What a lovely group of ladies I must say!  I love meeting new people and making new friends.  The plan was to meet at Deb's house stamp, have lunch, and stamp some more.  She was providing us with lunch, so I decided to bring some cookies for dessert.  I've been wanting to try this rolled chocolate chip cookie recipe for awhile now, so I decided to dig it out of my pile and give it a whirl!  I found the perfect cookie cutter to go with the occasion, the PTI flower logo!

Sugarbakers Chocolate Mini-Chip Cookies


1 c unsalted butter

⅓c granulated sugar

½ c light-brown sugar

1 large egg yolk

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 ½ c all-purpose flour 

½ tsp salt

1 ½ c semi-sweet mini-chocolate chips

Cream together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar.

Go Kitchen Aid, Go Kitchen Aid, Go!

Sift together the flour and the salt.

Add flour mixture one cup at a time until just blended.

Time for the Chocolate!

Fold in the mini chips by hand.

Divide dough in half and place each on a sheet of waxed paper.

Cover with a second sheet of waxed paper.

Now comes the fun part!  I use these bands on my rolling pin to help with even rolling of the dough.  I use the blue bands as I like them on the thick side!  However, I would eventually like to get a Dobord!

Gently flatten mound of dough.

Then roll to desired thickness between two pieces of parchment.  Now here is the important part...  Put both sets of parchment with rolled dough on a cookie sheet and place in the refrigerator until firm.

Pull one firmed sheet out of the refrigerator, peel off top layer of  waxed paper, and cut into desired shapes.

Place on a parchment or Silpat (as seen here) lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Let cool slightly on cookie sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting!

I used a glaze type frosting colored with Americolor food coloring.

After frosting dries completely and hardens (overnight is good), they can be stacked between sheets of waxed paper.

ENJOY!