BACraftygirl's Valentine's challenge

So I have been wanting to get the crafty juices flowing, and after I watched this video by BACraftygirl, a youtube channel I love to watch. She does lots of PTI hauls and this month she is sponsoring an inspiring contest.

The main goals of the contest are to make:

1. a valentine treat holder

2. use two or more stamps

3. use NO red or pink

"Hmmmmmm!" I thought to myself as I rubbed my chin in contemplation at this challenge. Valentine's is one of my favorite holidays (any time of year I can get especially giddy over my beloved bf I am a happy camper); and purple, a color that I adore but strangely don't use very much, would be a perfect element to add to this project.

I loved getting a change to break out my new PTI goodies, and utilize some older supplies too! This treat box is a lot of fun to put together. I typically don't like to use ribbon, and I don't have much PTI ribbon, but as it just so happens, I had some plum pudding saddlestitch,

I got a bug up my butt one day to make my own dangly-charms, because all of the others I had found shopping online were either not quite what I wanted, or rather too expensive. The Tim Holtz tiny paperclip holds it quite well!

Happy crafting! I hope everyone is having a great day to start off their week. xoxo

PTI Make It Monday #98

Howdy doody!! I couldn't resist trying out Betsy's chalkboard technique this week. I didn't really expect to have a finished card at the end of my crafty session, but I am excited to show the end result!

 My white gel pen got really gunky while trying to create the border. But I have tried to craft by one of Melissa Phillips' mantras: "the less perfect, the more homey it feels". Having always adored her style so much, I can definitely take her outlook to heart.

I wanted to mimic the look of a coffee shop sign that I often see on the sidewalks in my town's historic district. I have wanted to use this mug from Candy Cane Christmas forever, haha. 

I'm hoping everyone's New Year is starting out wonderfully. I can hardly believe it's already here! It'll take me months to get used to writing out "2013". Sheesh.

Happy crafting everyone! xoxoxo

Secret Santa #2 - Stay Cool Candle

 

So I'm definitely a bit behind in the Secret Santa gift giving because I don't work during a portion of the week and the event started this monday--but that gives me time to get crafty and put a special touch on the goodies I plan to give my coworker! ;D

 The tricky thing about shopping for smelly stuff is that not everyone likes strong smells. So unless you know the recipient likes smelly stuff, it's a bit of a gamble. I lost the list of things that my coworker likes (go figure, haha). But I do know it said she likes chocolate and "oh, anything!". Hahahah. So I figure even if this Winter scented candle is too strong of a smell for her to burn, it'll still make a very cute accent for her desk at work. Plus, it jingles! What's not to love about goodies that jingle? =)

 I both tied and hot-glued the bow in place around the candle so that if she does decide to light it, the hot glue won't melt and allow the bow to fall off. That would be a whee bit embarrassing.

I'm off to go spend the rest of my day off with my love-muffin (aka boyfriend) and play video games. Happy crafting everyone! xoxo

Make it Monday #94 - Glitter Detail

Hello everyone! Hope that the holiday season is starting out wonderfully for everyone. Work has been increasingly hectic lately (I work thurs-sun as a home health nurse) which tends to drain me quite a bit. On the flip side, I'm participating as a Secret Santa for work, and the coworker I am secret santa-ing for is a amazing and very nice woman. So needless to say, I am super excited to put together some crafty goodies that she'll really get a kick out of (I plan to spoil her just a whee bit! ^_~).

Favor it Box #8 is the first of the favor it boxes I've purchased, and it is soooo much fun! It's a little bit cumbersome how much space on the paper the tail die cuts take up, so it's a necessity to start with a fresh sheet of paper for each die cut. But other than that, it came together so quickly and the end result is pretty exciting. :D

 I finally. . . FINALLY bought the Friendship Jar set from PTI, as well as the Holiday Fillers. This family of stamps has been making its way and and out of my shopping cart for months now, always deleted in favor of something from the new release. Now that I have it though, I am SO glad I bought it! The sentiments, the homespun feel of it all--le sigh--I adore it. So excited. I definitely plan on getting the rest of the serious. Mmmhmm.

  

The way that this project involves this MIM strategy is that the glittered lace die strip is more of an accent or detail, just as Erin had described in her video. For me, I usually have glitter take front and center stage ('cuz it's gorge!) But I placed the strip in a way that it adds that extra pop, but is a supporting detail. 

Have a great week everyone! Go grab some eggnog or hot cocoa and ring in the season! =)

Make It Monday #90

I always enjoy incorporating challenges into cards that I need to make. It makes for a much easier springboard for the card layout and theme. I would have preferred to piece together the letters for happy rather than use the premade one, (I felt like that would have been a bit more true to the challenge) but it would have been too tedious to align and place with the foam tape with the time I had available to craft.

 

 A card for my Mom, who's birthday is on the 15th, just 11 days after mine. I just love dimension, texture and trinkets on cards. I think these three elements are what define my style, something I've been trying to figure out for about a year now (finally, sheesh!! haha)

Happy crafting everyone!

Boo to you!

Some little trinkets for co-workers and friends. I haven't decided if I will be putting a treat into the 2nd pocket or not. We'll see! I love Halloween. ;)

Papertreyink October Blog Hop

 Goodmorning everyone! Just a quick blog post for my submission into this month's blog hop. 

The layout was inspired by one of Melissa Phillips' challenges on the PTI forums: Share Your Chevron. =)

Have a great day everyone!