State Notecards

A lot of people LOVE their state.   My grandma thinks Oklahoma is the cat's meow.  We've just had a major disaster in Moore (about 12 minutes from my house), where a tornado took out most of the suburb.  It also destroyed two elementary schools, where some children lost their lives.  Tragedies like this bring out the best in many people and Oklahomans have shown their best through volunteering and donations.  We are also hearing hero stories of people throwing themselves over others, like teachers protecting their students.  In the midst of heartbreak, people have rallied for each other.  Maybe my grandma is right - Oklahoma may be the cat's meow!  Keep these Oklahomans in your thoughts.  Thank you!

 I always look for Oklahoma items (like pillows, tea towels, ornaments, books...) for Christmas for my grandma.  I designed some Oklahoma notecards for her and my mom.  (I already gave a set to my mom, but  my grandma will have to wait!)  

These are super easy to make.   You can personalize them for your state or someone else's state for a gift.  You can find state outlines at the silhouette online store (if you have a silhouette) or you can even do it the old fashioned way by cutting them out yourself.  Find state outline sheets here.  

Maps can still be found at gas stations and some book stores.   You  could punch hi or hello or something like that on the frame.  If you have a silhouette machine, I'm sure you could find a frame ready to go in the store.

So glad you stopped by!

Oh, Baby!

Vintage baby images are just the sweetest!  Well, some are a little scary, but not these from Nicecrane Designs.  And it looks like I have a bare hiney again!  I have to say one of the emails I most look forward to is an email from Ignacio showing all his new images.  What a fun "job" it is to showcase these cuties!

Oh, I have to tell you about the paper I found at Staples. I've been looking for some gold and silver paper that I really like.  This is it!   It comes 8 1/2 x 11 in silver and gold.  There are colors, as well, but I was interested in the metallics.  

I used circle dies, my silhouette, and hole punch to create gold circles for these cards.  

I'm sure I could have done it all with the Silhouette, but what can I say?  I like variety!  Then I found that I really liked the dots random looking in placement and in size, rather than in typical alternating polka dot rows.  (Not that I don't like those, too - I tend to love polkas!)

I love the vellum bands on these!  I printed the sentiments centered horizontally on of a piece of 8 1/2  x 11 vellum, which gave me plenty of room to wrap it around the card.  "Airing my views" came directly from this image - that's what it says (very tiny) under her.   I thought that was perfect for a thank you card.  So this is the "view" I printed for the inside:

You can find the "Born to be Wild" set (along with LOTS of others) at Nicecrane Designs.

Have a wonderful week!

Heart Butterflies

Hope you've enjoyed all the fun projects for the Paper Sweeties May Release!  One of the sets, Fun Shapes, has a really cute heart.  Well, it turns out if you put 4 hearts together, you've got a butterfly!

So 3 butterflies later, sentiments from Beautiful stamp set, and some doodling this is what I came up with:

The butterfly bodies are a circle and oval hand punch.  The antennae are flower stamens.

Visit the Paper Sweeties Blog for the last day of the May Release projects.  It's always fun to look!

Supplies

white cardstock    |    copics    |  pearl pen

A Novel Apple

Oh, it's soooo hard to cut up a book!  Even for a favorite thing like an apple.  This book happens to harken back to when I taught 3rd grade and a student beat up the cover pretty badly.  So...I decided I could stand to cut this one up...  This is also a testament to why I tend to hang on to things - I really do need them!

The new stamp set, You Are The Most Wonderful, from Paper Sweeties May Release inspired this novel apple/gift card holder project.  Love the font on this set and it's cool how it works.  One stamp says "You are the most WONDERFUL" and then you can add any of  the other stamps like Mother, Father, Friend...  or in this case:  TEACHER.

The sentiment here is heat embossed in white and then I stamped the Teacher sentiment again, just slightly offset, with white ink so it looks a little like chalk.  Then I just smudged it with some more white ink.  A handcut little apple from the book (with the strategically placed children) ties it with the Novel Apple.

This apple is really easy to make.  You can draw your own template or you could use a file, like this one below from The Cutting Cafe.  I made quite a few pumpkins like this a couple of years ago, so I figured it out and just changed the shape to make the apple.

Print out or draw half an apple.  You don't need a stem.  Mine is about 3 inches tall.    Tear off the covers of your book.  Cut out your apple pattern and place it on the spine of the book.  

  Draw around it and begin to cut out pages.  To keep the apple somewhat consistent all the way around, it's best to cut only about 4 pages at a time.  I also continue to use the template for each set of 4 pages, instead of drawing around the pieces I've already cut.

Tear the pages away as you work.  When you've cut all the pages, hot glue the spine edges together.  (Now for a little secret:  sometimes you will have bare spots when the pages fan out.  You can cut out some extra apple shapes from the scraps and glue them into the bare spots.  Depending on size, it may be necessary to cut them from another book.)  I used distress ink to highlight the edges and some of the pages.  I hot glued a stick from my yard and a book page leaf on the top.  You could add a tag, tie on a ribbon...  And you'll have an apple fit for the most wonderful teacher!

Go by the Paper Sweeties blog to see more DT ideas and the Paper Sweeties store to see the entire May Release.  

Thank you for stopping by!

Supplies

gift card holder file    |    fired brick distress ink    |  shabby shutters distress ink

pink apple paper    |    black cardstock

Spring Luncheon Invitation

This Paper Sweeties birdhouse is just perfect for the invitations for a ladies group that has a spring luncheon to set their goals for the year.  They've asked me to do their invites for several years now.

This invitation is oh, so simple.  And oh, so sweet.   I printed the invite on heavy cardstock and stamped a flower at the bottom.  It's simply wrapped in a doily.  To make it a little more interesting, I colored up birdhouses and birds and glued them to a gray and white straws tied with seam binding ribbon.  All the images are from the new Sending Springtime stamp set.  Everything is held together with twine.  I've heard from several of the ladies that these invites were a huge hit!  (Always glad to hear it!)

Visit the Paper Sweeties blog to see more wonderful creations using the May Release stamps.  Hope you enjoyed this sneak peak!

Paper Sweeties May Sneak Peek

"Thank you from the bottom of my flowerbed!"   I think that sentiment is so cute.  It will be available as part of the Paper Sweeties new release on May 15th.

Look at that cute outfit on Abigail.  I part paper pieced it and part colored it with copics.   The flowers in and on the windowbox, as well as the watering can are all part of the new release. I cut off Abigail's right arm (I know - that sounds terrible) and then glued it back on bent just a little so it would look more like she's holding the watering can.

Join us at the Paper Sweeties Blog to see more sneak peeks of the May Release. 

(I'll share this at Make it Monday.)  Have a wonderful week!

Supplies

window cut file    |    leaves die    |    copics

Happy Mother's Day!

I had lunch with my mom and dad on Friday and gave my mom some monogram cards for Mother's Day that you've already seen here.  I said, " You've already seen them, Mom."  And she said, "I don't care - they are so pretty!"  I thought she probably already figured out they were for her (with the K on the monogram for Karen), but she was still really good at being surprised and pleased!

This little tote was a request that I filled back in January (smart girl to ask EARLY).  

Did a little zigzag, along with the stamping before gluing it together.  (I'll share this at Make It Monday.)

Nicecrane Designs is celebrating Mother's Day with 40% off!

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

Supplies

tote cut file    |    heart stamps and dies    |    Mother stamp
pearl pen