How's it Waggin' Money/Check Holder

Since I didn't get to see my aunt during the holidays, we normally exchange gifts between the kids and her youngest son. He is my godson and now that he is a teenager, money is the way to a teenager's heart, right? I scoured the gallery for the perfect money holder and came up with this money holder template by Lisa Somerville. If you haven't visited her blog, go and check it out. She has tons of great tuorials. I also had a reason to use a stamp set I won as blog candy from Tracy Dorton. I got to play with H&M's A Lil' Behind. I just love this set because there are so many funny sayings. I believe this set was inspired by Mothermark. I came across this sketch in Papercrafts Magazine April-May issue. I didn't realize that this is a sketch from Julie Ebersole (JulieHRR). What an honor to be able to use her sketch...

The second picture shows how it looks on the inside. I left it plain and had no writing on it so that my aunt could recycle it for later use. I probably should have taken a picture of the inside with some money in there for the full effect (the money or check slips into a slot at the bottom of the panel (hard to see)...sorry maybe next time I'll remember to do that.


stamps: h&m a lil' behind paper: red, dark blue, caramel, inspirations dp ink: palette noir, creamy caramel, real red accessories: dimensionals, string, blender pen, nesties, crimper, circle coluzzle, stapler, red grossgrain ribbon

Oh pretty butterfly notebook

Here is the matching notebook I made to go with my aunt's thank you and birthday card. I was on a butterfly kick the night I made this. I just love the detail...

stamps: ginak take flight, inkadinkado formal alpha, cornish heritage farms lined paper paper: white cs, me &my big ideas value pack dp ink: palette burnt umber, antique linen distress ink, bordering blue, rose red accessories: spiral punch, button, string, red liner tape, wide chocolate chip grossgrain ribbon, RSVP pen

Mojo Monday Sketch #71

Here is the card that was inspired by Julee Tillman's Mojo Monday sketch #71...This is the first time I've ever used vellum on a card. I bought a pack of vellum paper from Hobby Lobby about a year ago and just using it now. I am a real cheapo when it comes to using expensive paper and such so I guess I was just waiting for the right card to use it on. I love how GinaK's butterfly shows through the vellum piece. I sponged the smaller butterflies with only orange and ruby red then I used Aleene's paper glaze to make them more 3D. I was trying for the cracked glass technique on them, but it just wasn't working right. Good thing, the UTEE can be heated up again if your piece doesn't turn out the way you want it to. I don't normally decorate the inside o the card either, but lately I have. I have been brave enough to layer some pieces on the inside of the card to match the outside. I really like how this turned out and this, by far, is one of my most favorite cards.

stamps: tac charming gardeners for sentiment, rubber stampede victorian butterflies paper: me and my big ideas paper pad dp, vanilla, vellum ink:palette burnt umber, only orange, ruby red accessories: dimensionals, brads, wide brown grossgrain ribbon, aleene's paper glaze, sponge

SFYTT 1.24.09 Thank You

I rarely participate in sketches, but this time I took the challenges one step ahead... One of my "honorary" aunt's birthday just passed last week and I had been working on a a little birthday gift for her. Since we did not get a chance to see her and her family during the holidays, she sent the kids Christmas presents through the mail. So taking inspiration from Jen Del Muro and Julee Tillman, I created a matching set that includes a thank you card, a birthday card and matching altered notebook (sorry, can't stop altering notebooks - I am on such a notebook kick lately).

stamps: inkadinkado garden delight, ginak take flight paper: me and my big ideas paper pad dp, vanilla/chocolate chip/teal cs ink:palette new canvas/burnt umber, distress ink antique linen
accessories: dimensionals, ms lace punch, button, wide brown grossgrain ribbon

Christmas 2008 Thank You Cards

Since moving up to northern MN and having no family around, we have been making a tradition to do a 12 hour trek back to northern IL to visit family and friends. I created several thank you notes to send to family and friends who gave us a lot great presents and for DH's hospitality during our one week stay at their house. I also made matching CD holders which held a CD of pictures from the holidays.

For the first card, I was inspired by this card by kauai17. I had some basic grey paper I hadn't used so this was the perfect opportunity to use some new paper and a new set. I made several Christmas thank you notes for friends and family for all of the goodies that they gave our family during the holidays. We also stayed with my DH's parents for a whole week so I wanted to thank you them for their hospitality and generosity. I made two of these cards to give my parents and my DH's parents. The second was inspired by Jenn D with this card. It's a little hard to see, but I used a snowflakes clear stamp set I bought from Wal-mart for $3. I really needed to make the cards simple enough to replicate since I had to make over 12-15 of them.

CD CASES

I created several CD cases to give to family because I am the official picture taker especially when we are around my DH's family. I am the only one snapping away with the camera and love doing it. I inherited this from my mom who takes a picture of anything that will sit still long enough for a picture. She takes pictures of practically everything from food to people leaving a party - geesh! The CD case that is standing up actually holds 2 CDs in it. I created it just like a stationary holder with a belly band holding it together.


stamps: inkadinkado birds galore, wal-mart snowflakes, stamp n'around snowman, studio g clear stamp paper: unknown dp ink: studio g ink, pallette burnt umber/l'amore red/landscape, sharpie markers to color snowman accessories: nesties, ms lace punch, ribbon, brown satin ribbon from wal-mart, string, computer generated sentiment, blank CDs, sharpie to write title on CDs

Gifts Sets for my Mom

My mom finally ordered some sets from me to make for her friends to give for Christmas. She gave me the amount of money she wanted to spend on each person so I had to figure out what to make. So, without further ado...

MONOGRAM "G" GIFT SET

This gift set includes a set of 6 cards and envies, a scalloped bookmark inspired by BevR from SCS, notebook and matching pen. The notebook I altered was cut in half at OfficeMax. I had seen this idea in the SCS gallery and thought it was a great idea to decorate twice the number of notebooks. It costs $1 per cut at OfficeMax. I used Unity formal alphabet stamps for the monogram. I had never created a circle card before, but had the idea to make it a bookmark for the notebook I created. I normally attach a ribbon for a bookmark, but since I did not cover the spine, I decided to create a separate bookmark for it. I found these really cool looking notecard holders made by trishalim1 from SCS. I used this template for the card holder.

stamps: unity formal alphabet, papertrey corners and borders - circles paper: white, light teal, light purple, unknown dp ink: almost amethyst accessories: nesties, wide grossgrain teal ribbon, composition notebook, dimensionals, rsvp pen, purple polka dot ribbon from M's, mini flower eyelets to hold scalloped bookmark together

LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE GIFT SET

This gift set consists of an altered notebook with matching pen and set of cards with envies. I created the card holder using the origami template I posted awhile back. Once you get the hang of folding a piece of 12x12 paper, it is easy peasy to put it together. Make sure to practice on scrap paper first. Here is the template I used for the origami card holder. I also used the stamps from Rubberstamping Fun review set #22. Love using those sentiments because they are so versatile.

stamps: tac live love laugh, rubberstamping fun review set #22 paper: white, teal, magnolia dp ink: pallette noir black, distress ink antique linen, real red accessories: nesties, wide grossgrain teal ribbon, dimensionals, rsvp pen, cuttlebug tiny bubbles embossing folder, ms lace punch