A little inspiration

So I realize these are not cards but I just love finding vintage treasures so I had to share them with you! The typewriter is a gem my mother-in-law found for me. I've been holding her typewriter hostage and I think she wants it back so she founds this one for me to exchange with! Only $35 she said! What a steal! The mill grinder thing and the box were things I found at a consignment shop she took me to as well. The mill was only $7 and the box was $14. I was really happy with both! PS- I'm originally from California so the box was calling to me not just because it's awesome but also because it's so appropriate for ME! Sorry the pics stink!

Time off from work- Woot Woot!

Here are some cards I've made over the last couple days. I gave my notice at my current job and they only had me work that one day and I don't start my new job until Monday so that leaves me with a little free time to myself! Darn LOL! 

I got the idea for this card from the Papertrey Ink release cards last month, isn't it such a cute idea! I just had to recreate it!

 I made this one for my aunt who requested it for someone else. I can't decide if it's too CAS or just right. Thoughts? The inside says "May you live happily ever after".

 I made this one for Erik's grandpa but Erik doesn't think that it's quite right for him so I'll just have to make another one and save this one for someone else!

This one is also for my Aunt to give to my grandma for her birthday. I'm in love with the cameo trend right now and just ordered this set from Waltzingmouse.

Operation Write Home cards

So I totally forgot to bring all my Operation Write Home cards to the Stamp-A-Faire event so I ended up making a few while I was there during the down time. For each card you donate you get a raffle ticket for free PTI stuff so of course I had to at least give a few! Some people had over 200, I couldn't believe the generosity and time that must have gone into that! The first card features the new sunflower stamp set coming out in August (we got it a little early!), the second one is Peaceful Gardens, the third one is the special edition stamp set we got for attending the event, and the last one features that again as well as the skunk and sentiment from the free Forest Friends set we also got for free! Lots of free goodies, well worth the admission cost!

Papertrey Ink's Stamp-A-Faire 2011 in Cincinnati, OH

I just got back from Cincinnati, OH where Papertrey Ink's Stamp-A-Faire was hosted and I have to say it was one of the best days of my life!!! My friend Nicole and I had such an amazing time getting to know all our favorite designers, meeting new crafters from around the country (and world), and making some great projects! Oh, and I can't forget to mention all the free stuff we got in a super cute burlap bag!
We got to do 10 make and takes (two with each designer), had the chance to shop their products in person, we got to meet all their top designers, spend our down time making our own cards, and we got to see some inspiration galleries of cards the designers have made. We not ONE, not TWO, but THREE free stamp sets and an additional free set if we spent over $100, which obviously I did! At the end of the night they gave away a TON of free stuff (I didn't win anything but it was fun to watch). They also had an awesome photo booth to capture the fun. They did a collection for Operation Write Home cards and ended up with four BOXES full! What generous ladies! Here are some highlights from the trip:

 Michelle Wooderson

Lisa Johnson

 Dawn McVey

 Heather Nichols

 Betsy Veldman

Nichole Heady

Clean and Simple FTL 149

I made this card for my aunt to give to my cousin for her new arrival! The baby's name is violet so of course it's only appropriate to use a purple color pallet! The sketch I used was from this week's Clean and Simple sketch. Thanks for looking!

Twisted Sketches #68 Circles

This week's twist is Circles- any how, any way! I decided to make felt circle flowers! The paper and brads are from Girls Paperie and the felt and cardstock is from Papertrey Ink. Felt is so much fun to work with and I always forget about it so sometimes I just have to say, ok I'm making a card with felt today and then I HAVE to use it! Thanks for looking and check out what the other designers did HERE. Even better, come play along!

My Mind's Eye Challenge 25

I came across this challenge on My Mind's Eye yesterday and whipped this card together this morning! I'm in love with these doily stamps so any chance to use them and I'll jump. The theme is "celebration" and some how I think this is the only stamp I have referencing celebration! I'll have to work on that! Thanks for looking and have a great day!

FTL 148- Clean and Simple

I used the layout from Clean and Simple  this week. I'm obsessing over my Authentique paper so I had to sneak one more in today! I'm also still in love with this Memory Box woven circle die. Have a good one and thanks for looking!

CAS-ual Fridays #10

This weeks CAS-ual Fridays challenge was to make a shaped card. I've only had the chance to use this onesie die once so far so I was excited to have the excuse to use it again! I'm not gonna lie, I feel like working on an odd shape is much harder to do than working on a rectangle!

Just Us Girls #92- Cardstock button

This week's JUGS challenge- click here- was to make a cardstock button. Well- I guess it was actually to "showcase" a cardstock button but I ended up making them smaller than I probably should have so I'm not even sure you can tell that the flower centers are "cardstock buttons"! Haha, oops! All kinds of fun new things going on here for me, I've never used flock before, never used this pom pom type ribbon before, and just tried this liquid pearl accent for the first time today. I love trying new things! I also did a messy stitch for the stems and didn't change out the bobbin from black so that showed a bit more than I had wanted- so what do you do? Make it work! I added black thread to buttons and stamped the sentiment in black to tie it all together. I'm totally enjoying this day off from work!!!

Make It Monday #23- Pockets with Edger dies

This week's make it monday on Nichole Heady's blog-click here- show's how to make a pocket out of an edger. I've seen this done before but never tried it myself so what a great opportunity to give it a shot! I used an edger from Papertrey Ink along with Authentique paper (obsessed). Over it I used a PTI die and stamp for the sentiment and a Prima flower. I also sewed the pocket around the bottom and sides to give it a more finished look. Super girly and fun!

Mojo Monday199 and TSG115

I made this card using the sketch from Mojo Monday and the challenge element "fabric" from There She Goes. I don't think I've used fabric on a card yet and I just so happened to have purchased a bunch of pretty fabric yesterday that I wanted use! I made this one using a Gluber but I don't think I used it right because I couldn't peel off the backing! It may also be a tad big, but oh well, first attempt! I made this card for my mom who is visiting me from California. She's been paying for things here and there while shopping so of course I wanted to thank her for that! Enjoy your week.

Glitz Design: "Dance In Sunshine"

Have you seen this new line yet? If not you have to check it out, it's so amazing from start to finish! You can check out the whole line here: Glitz Design.  Here's a sampling of some of my favorites (which I have to admit was hard to narrow down!).

They're offering a chance to win this collection on their blog so check it out- actually don't, then I'll have a better chance at winning! Haha! I can't wait to get ahold of it!

Shabby Chic- just a note

If you read my last post, you read that I've been doing a lot of guy cards lately. Well, coming off of that I really needed to get some girly energy out so I made this shabby chic, super girly card! For the edges of the card I wet them and then bent them up by hand after inking them with tea dye ink. The lace and doily were sprayed with glimmer mist, and I added pearls to the wooden butterfly. The stamp is from Papertrey Ink.

Mojo Monday #198

This card is for Mojo Monday #198- click here. You may have noticed that I've been doing a lot of guy cards lately. It's because my husbands old boss asked me to make 12 cards for her- YAY- and a lot of them were for guys. At first I was like, oh great, those are so hard why are there so many! But I'm really glad this came up because it's given me the chance to practice making them and now I've actually grown to like making them! Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to be going out of my way to make more, but at least I feel more comfortable about them now!

Twisted Sketches #66

This card is for this week's Twisted Sketches challenge- click here. The twist this week was blue and I LOVE blue so this one was no problem! I used copics to color in the Year of Flowers stamps from Papertrey Ink and added some glossy accents, the stamped sentiment is from PTI and is embossed with white embossing powder, and then I used a PTI edger on the PTI cardstock! Can you tell I'm a little obsessed with Papertrey Ink?! Anyway, thanks for looking and head over to our site to play along!

PLEASE NOTE: Twisted Sketches is now at http://www.twistedsketches.org/ so make sure you update it if you have it saved to your favorites!

CAS-ual Fridays CFC9: Krafts-men

This week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge-click here- was to use kraft to make a card for a dude. I just got this masculine stamp set from Papertrey Ink so it was perfect timing to test it out! I punched out circles on the top layer to add a window to the bottom layer where I stamped the leaves. The top layer has wood grain stamped onto it and then it's finished off with light blue paper and a brown button with twine. It reads Happy Birthday husband. Surprisingly this is the first time I've ever done this effect where the top layer is cut to show the bottom layer! It's just never something I think of for some reason! Have a great weekend.