Take out, anyone?

I am in heaven. I love it when I have a reason to get so excited about paper. Today I have a couple of boxes to show you making one of the newest Perfect Presentation templates: Gift To Go. When I saw this template, I was so excited. Months ago, before joining the Perfect Presentation team, I tried (miserably) to duplicate a take-out box after my husband brought home Chinese food. The great thing about this template, is that it gives the fun look of a take-out box, without a zillion score lines and complicated folds. And, it only takes 2 sheets of cardstock!


First off, I wanted to cut out some flowers to add some cheer to a little Gift To Go box I'm going to give a friend for her birthday. I wanted something cheerful and colorful. These flowers fit the bill for me perfectly.


And next, I had to combine 2 of my favorite sets. PTI's Background Basics: Text Style with Stampin Up's Artfully Asian.


I also included a picture to show the roominess inside the box. There is also a snack size Snickers in there (that you can't see), as well as several Werther's originals. And a little stuffing in the bottom. So, you can leave out the stuffing, too, to pack more yummy goodness inside. I was thinking of all the possibilities for little girls, too. I know my daughter has a friend with a birthday coming up, and I was thinking of fingernail polish and some lip gloss tucked inside, in addition to chocolate!


There is a second template being released today, but I got so excited about making this one, that I don't have a project to share with you using the second one. Some of the other design team ladies do, though, so be sure to check out their blogs.

Leigh Ann Baird
Alyssa Scritchfield
Harriet Hensley
Kerri Michaud
Chris Olsen

That's all for now. I'm scrambling to be on time to church, now! LOL! Have a great Sunday!

Perfect Presentation Template: Gift To Go
CS: PTI Rustic White, White, Summer Sunrise, Plum Pudding, Spring Moss
Stamps: PTI Background Basics: Text Style, Friends 'Til The End, SU Artfully Asian
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink Antique Linen, PTI Dark Chocolate, Hibiscus Burst, Copics, Versamark
Accessories: White Embossing Powder, Glitter Glue, Dark Chocolate Buttons

Inspired Crafters Sketch #7

Today I have a layout that I'm really excited about. It uses a sketch that was posted on the Inspired Crafters blog. I am having so much fun being back in the rhythm of scrapbooking. These pictures are back from when my daughter was just a little baby. I loved the pictures at the time, and always thought they would make for a really fun scrapbook page. As soon as I saw the layout on Inspired Crafters, I knew it would be perfect for scrapping these pictures. In addition to the sketch, Banu challenged us to use ribbon on our layout as well. I used a yarn swirl instead, but I'm counting that!


Thanks for looking, and have a sunny Saturday! We've got a full day of activities ahead of us, and I'm excited to get out of the house.

Digital Supplies: Designer Digitals

Chicken Enchiladas

Now that I'm current with my kids' mini-albums, I've decided to tackle another big project: getting my recipe cards worked on. I've been doing a 6x6 format, and that was working okay. I can place them in little albums, and it's worked out pretty well. But I like to pull my recipes out and stick them on the fridge while I'm cooking. I just like to see the recipe right there. But I don't like taking the page protector out. I just want the one recipe I'm working on right there. When my parents were here, my dad bought me a laminator
(thanks, Dad!). He said he knew I'd find a use for it! And then it hit me, that I could laminate my recipes, and pull each individual one out when I'm cooking them, stick them on the fridge, and not worry about milk splashing on them, or buttery fingers touching them. I am planning on doing them in a 5x7 format now, but still doing the 6x6 ones, too. That way I can still stash them in the 6x6 album if I feel like it. So, today I'm sharing my Chicken Enchilada recipe. Yes, I've shared this recipe before, from a recipe swap I was in. But I had a friend request it, and so I made a new recipe card I could share with her. Also, I'm posting both the sizes, because I don't know if anyone ever actually prints these out, or not. I know I've saved lot of recipes I found on other blogs, but I don't usually reprint them. But if someone wants to, then they could have their choice of sizes to use!



All Digital Supplies: Designer Digitals

Mini Albums

So, in spite of the germies my kiddos had last week, I finally got their mini-albums done for them. A few years ago, when my son was going to kindergarten, I decided to do these mini-albums for my kids. I kept them super duper simple. One or two pictures a page, with some journaling from me to them, and that was it. At the time I came up with the idea, I hadn't been doing any real scrapbooking for a long time. Pretty much since my son was born. And it was overwhelming to think about catching up on 6 years worth of pictures. So that's when I decided on the format for these books. The best part is that the kids absolutely love them. I find them reading their little books all the time.


Well, fast forward to now, and the original mini-albums are the only ones I did for them. Once again I felt overwhelmed, because I missed a few years. I decided to start the process again. This time instead of doing them as a calendar year (January to December), I'm doing the school year (August to July). Now that I am current, I may try to go back and catch up, but we'll see how that goes. I just thought I'd show you the format in case anyone is interested.



I am doing them digitally (I'm sure that is not a surprise!). It is so great, because I got the format all set up and saved. Then when I pick out a picture, I just slide the picture in, change the date and my journaling, and I'm done. I'm so excited to be current for this year. The kids love their little books, and I love knowing that when their time at my house is done, they can just grab these little books to take with them, and hopefully have some great memories.

ETA: The page sizes are 6" x 6". Most places that print digital prints will print in this size, or you could of course print them at home. I had mine sent out to a printer.

Don't plan on it

Well, have you ever had one of those weeks that just didn't go as planned? That was my week this week. My parents were coming to visit, and I asked my mom how her card stash was. She told me it was pretty depleted, so I figured I would just make cards all week to build her stash back up. Well, I've gotten 2 cards made. Not quite the stash I was hoping to build up for her.

Anyway. I finally got my kids' teachers presents made. That's the good news. The bad news is that they are both sick and missing their parties today. My daughter yesterday got an ear infection that had her in amazing amounts of pain. We took her to the doctor and got started on the antibiotics last night, so I figured if she wasn't in pain she could go today. But then my son in the middle of the night had his eyes sealed shut from pink eye. And when my daughter woke up, her eyes weren't sealed shut, but they were oozing, too. So that meant a trip to the doctor this morning for my son. And no school parties!

Here are the boxes the teachers will get after the long weekend:


I used the "Squared" Perfect Presentation template for these boxes. This particular size just takes one sheet of cardstock, and they go together really quickly. I originally planned to do some layers and cut out hearts, but then I went a totally different route. I decided to emboss polka dots and wrap with the ribbon to make them look like little presents! I did my son's in red and my daughter's in pink. I loved the end look. So fun! And easy. And that's what I needed this week! And I have a little tip for you on the Perfect Presentation templates. Many of the templates are also available now in the SVG format. So, if you have a cricut with the SCAL software, you can buy the SVG format, and the cricut will do all the cutting for you.

I'm off to tend to little sick kiddos, and then later today, be back to check on all your blogs that I've missed out on this past week.

Perfect Presentation Template: Squared
Stamps: Unity Distressed Dots
Ink: Versamark
CS: PTI Pure Poppy
Accessories: White Embossing Powder

Painting by Numbers

I have been super busy over the last few days, trying to get ready to take advantage of some sales. I have a lot of scrapbook pages ready to be printed and was going back over them checking for typos before I send them to be printed. Which meant no card-making time! But I sent a bundle of pages off tonight, and so that meant as soon as I saw the latest PTI challenge posted, I could play along. Papertrey will be releasing acrylic paint soon (which would have come in very handy for me back before I switched to digital for my scrapbooking). So the challenge is a "paint by number" challenge. You have to pick a color palette depending on what your screen name is on their forum (mine is rj77, so fun and exciting!). So here is my color palette:
And here is the card I made, which also follows the sketch:


I love the flowers from the Life set, and the minute I saw the sketch and the colors, I knew I had to use them. After I got them stamped and the paper glued down, I noticed that I could have added another little bundle of the flowers down in the right hand corner. But I wasn't going to risk messing the whole card up to add that little detail. If I make another one, I'll stamp some more flowers there in the corner.

Well, now I have stayed up way too late, and will certainly pay for it tomorrow. But it was fun to be stamping again after a bit of a break.

And I get that the ribbon is covering the flowers. Sometimes that would totally drive me insane. But I just liked the way it looked this time, and went with the flow. Kind of more like I was covering patterned paper than a stamped image!

Stamps: Life, Signature Greetings
Ink: Scarlet Jewel, Smokey Shadow
CS: Kraft, Sweet Blush, Smokey Shadow, Vintage Cream
Accessories: Vintage Cream Twill, SU Scallop Trim Punch

Champs

I'm back! I don't know where the weeks are going to. I am back today with a scrapbook page that is for the Inspired Crafters sketch challenge from the 23rd of January. You can find the sketch here.


And there is my layout. I haven't done a 2-page layout in a long time, and it was tricky for me to do. I guess I'm a little rusty. The layout overall is somehow off to me. I don't know if it's just so busy and I've been leaving more white space. Maybe that's what's throwing me. But my son liked it, and since it's about his event, I guess we're good. I was having some computer issues (yes, again) that had me off the net more than usual, so I'll be looking forward to catching up on other blogs, too.

All Digital Supplies: Designer Digitals

Saturday Sketch

Good morning! Today is my first day hosting a challenge over at Inspired Crafters. It's a sketch challenge, and I hope that you might want to play along with us. I've had fun doing the weekly scrapbook challenges, and working more on my scrapbooks. Here is the layout I did for this week's challenge:


I've had several people ask me questions about digital scrapbooking, and I decided to type a little more info today on what I find so appealing about doing my scrapping digitally. I am a crafter who always wants to change things. I can't just get something on paper and be happy with it. I always wish I could move it a little to the left. Or that the picture was a little bit bigger. So, in that regard, digital is perfect for me. I can rearrange elements to my heart's content. Add in, take away, change color. All those things can be done rather effortlessly, and without messing up the whole rest of the layout. Even if it's been a few days, and I go back and see something I'm not loving about a layout, I can change it! Another aspect I LOVE, is that you get so much use out of your supplies. For example, on the layout I'll have posted tomorrow, I used some black chipboard letters. Well, I can use those letters over and over and over without worrying about using all of the i's, e's, and a's, and having a bunch of x's and g's left. Those are my two main reasons. I also have had a few questions about printing my layouts. I do either 8 1/2 x 11 layouts or 12x12. The 8 1/2 x 11 I print at home. This is the size I use for my "picture of the day" layouts. I take a picture each day, and make a weekly layout. I like this size because I can print at home, and have the layout printed each week. Reminding me how fun it is to see a week in pictures. For the larger 12x12, I send them to get printed. I use a sight called Scrapping Simply. Their prices are reasonable, they had super quick service, and the prints looked fantastic. I was very happy with them. I have read about a new place that is opening in February, Persnickety Prints, and once I try them, I will give a review on them as well.

If you are thinking digital might be something you want to try, I'd definitely say go for it. I am so glad I started scrapping this way, and don't care if I never do another paper layout. I'll save my cardstock for cards and 3-D projects! A site I love for their supplies as well as tips, is Designer Digitals. They have fantastic sales on Thursdays, where around 250 of their products are 30% off. On Sunday they have two new products for $.25. I mean, you really can't beat that for value! If you are interested in digital scrapbooking at all, I hope you found some of this information helpful. If I left something out you would like to know, please leave me a comment, and I'd be happy to answer the best that I can.

Happy Friday

We made it to Friday! woo-hoo! Today is the 100th day of school. It's payday. We're almost done with January. And I've got a project to share using a newly released Perfect Presentation template: Cute Carton. I'd say the day is starting off in a good way!


I laugh everytime I use Kraft now. I always wondered why people were so in love with this cardboard looking paper. And I find myself reaching for it all the time now. I needed to whip up a little something for a thank you to take to someone who's been helping me out with a big PTA project. This fit the bill perfectly. It went together quickly, was very easy to decorate, and holds a nice amount of Hershey nuggets. It could fit cookies, too, but I wasn't doing any baking that day. All paper crafting!

If you'd like to see the rest of the templates that are released today, here is a list of inspiration that can't be beat!

Harriet Hensley is showing "It's a Keeper."
Chris Olsen has another view of "Cute Carton."
Alyssa Scritchfield is showing "Squared" can be fun (no math involved!).
Kerri Michaud is showing off "Hey Cupcake."
Leigh Ann Baird will be showing something using all four!!!

If that doesn't get you going on a Friday morning, I don't know what will! Enjoy your Friday everyone.

Stamps: PTI Background Basics: Text Style, Turning a New Leaf
Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate, Ripe Avocado
CS: PTI Kraft, Ripe Avocado, Rustic White
Accessories: Sizzix Bigz Beautiful Butterflies, PTI Dark Chocolate Buttons, PTI Cream Ribbon
Perfect Presentation Template: Cute Carton

Double Duty

Oh, it's a late post today. I thought I'd be all ready to post these projects before going to help at the school today. But I was just moving tooooo slow this morning. Today I have a card and scrapbook page to share, using the same sketch! These both were inspired by last week's sketch at Inspired Crafters. The sketch can be found here.

First up, is my card.


I was browsing online galleries the other day, and saw a card using a similar color palette with this floral stamp. I cut out a shape with my Nesties, and it fit just how I hoped it would. I had a purple square to add on there instead of a second pink square, but it disappeared from my desk. And I didn't feel like cutting another one. So I didn't!

Then I used the inspiration from the sketch to make a scrapbook page as well.


This is another picture from the old metal lunchbox. It is me with my two older brothers on some Christmas long ago. It's the same year for all of us. My mom would always have us take a picture under the tree with all of our stuff. It is kind of a fun memory, and I'm glad I found a picture of each of us from the same year.

Card
Stamps: PTI Background Basics: Text Style, SU Happy Harmony
Ink: PTI Hibiscus Burst, Summer Sunrise, Plum Pudding, Ripe Avocado, Versamark
CS: PTI White, Hibiscus Burst, Summer Sunrise, Ripe Avacado

Scrapbook Page
Designer Digitals Products

Blog Hopping with PTI: The Total Package

Well, it's Blog Hop time at Papertrey Ink. The challenge this month was to create a card with the "total package." Meaning, don't neglect the inside of the card or the envelope (like I always do). So, once again, while this probably isn't too much of a challenge for some people, I was definitely working outside of my comfort zone.

I knew I wanted to make something cheery. I know it's not even February yet, but I'm ready for spring and flowers and cheery colors to flood the scene! So I tried to get some of that onto my card (and envelope) today.







That's all for me today. If you're on the hop, I can't wait to see what you've done as well. If you're just here visiting, hope your day is cheery!

Stamps: PTI Friends 'Til The End
Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate, Versamark
CS: PTI Dark Chocolate, Hibiscus Burst, Plum Pudding, Spring Moss, Summer Sunrise, White
Accessories: Filigree White Embossing Powder, SU Scallop Trim Punch, PTI Dark Chocolate Buttons

Magazine Inspiration

This week's Saturday Scrapbook challenge at Inspired Crafters is to find inspiration in a magazine advertisement. Well, while my computer was down for repairs, I found a stack of old scrapbooking magazines that had been missing. I ran across this ad here, and got inspired to make a page with lots of squares:



And here is my layout:



Digital Supplies: Designer Digitals

The Metal Lunch Box and Computer Down Time

Yesterday my computer got an awful virus that had me down for hours. Thank goodness my husband has me up and running again today! One of my goals in scrapbooking this year, is to catch up on OLD pictures. I have tons of pictures from when my kids are little that still need done, too, and I'm working on that as I go. But I'm talking about pictures from when I was a little girl back to even some from when my mom was a little girl. My mom has an old metal lunch box that houses a lot of these old pictures. A few years ago, my dear sweet husband scanned them all in. A good quarter of them were so dark, I teased him for wasting his time scanning them in. I didn't know the joys of photoshop then. Now, I'm still no photoshop expert, so I haven't gotten any of the photos looking like a pro has been working with them. But I've been able to get a lot of them in a condition I can use them on scrapbook pages. For this page I used last week's scrapbook sketch at Inspired Crafters. To see the sketch, you can click here.



One of my favorite things about doing my scrapbooking digitally, is how easy it is to change things around. I did the first layout, had it totally finished, and loved it. But then when I looked at it again (after being away working on a different project), I worried it was too dark and drab. So I changed the main background paper and the color of the flowers. I still like both and my husband prefers the darker one. Since it's for my mom, I guess I will let her have the final say!

Fabulous Day

Well, it's practically Friday here since there is no school tomorrow. And today I get to share some fun news. Leigh Ann of Stamping With Annie B, asked if I would officially join her Perfect Presentation Design Team, and I was thrilled to accept the offer. You know I love making 3-D projects!!! I have been so pleased working with her templates, and am super excited to show you a project using Bag It Up!


One of my favorite things about templates is how very versatile they can be. For example, this template also comes with the option to create handles on top and/or a peek-through window. Today, I didn't use those features, but I will! My daughter loves to take little treats on the bus to share with her friends. She gets frustrated when I tie a bow, and she can't re-tie it. So I kept this one super simple at the top, and added a little round clip that she can re-fasten when she wants to. So now, she can open it up, take out a few chocolate kisses, and fasten it back up. And I used some of my favorite Basic Grey paper. I don't use patterned paper a ton, but I could use sheet after sheet of this stuff!

Here are the links to the rest of the design team to get more inspiration:

Leigh Ann Baird
Kerri Michaud
Alyssa Scritchfield

And to look at any of the templates already available (and I can't pick a favorite, or I'd tell ya!) visit the Wild Flower Patch shop, where all the Perfect Presentation templates are available!

Stamps: PTI Signature Greetings
Ink: PTI Scarlet Jewel
CS: PTI Scarlet Jewel, Spring Moss
DP: Basic Grey
Template: Perfect Presentation Bag It Up
Accessories: Spiral Clip, Ribbon

You Make Me Smile

So, I finally got my desk cleaned off. Well, cleaned off enough that my paper cutter can fit entirely on the desk. And my husband got me a new hard drive since my old one was almost jam packed! So it's a good day. Now, if only spring were here. Since it's going to be a while until spring, I made some cards with colors that cheered me up!


I love this set of sentiments, although I kind of feel like I am cheating using a set that contains someone else's handwriting. I found this paper a long time ago at our scrapbook store, and was thrilled with how many PTI colors it goes with. I love it! And it's cheery, and I need a little sunny cheer, even if it's just in the form of a card.

Stamps: PTI Signature Greetings
Ink: PTI Ripe Avocado, Terracotta Tile
CS: PTI White, Summer Sunrise, Terracotta Tile
DP: SEI
Accessoreis: PTI Terracotta Tile Twill Ribbon, Ripe Avocado Satin Ribbon