My first Papertrey RAK cards

We had a great visit with Brian last week. The three days just flew by and the kids and I loved having him back even if he did have to leave again so soon. We were lucky just to have the time because most people don't get the same opportunity. Now only a little over 5 months left. :( Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of our time together. We only used his camera and he took it back to Iraq with him.

We also found out this week that we'll be moving to Ft. Benning, GA in January. We were supposed to stay in Germany until next June but things change. We were stationed at Benning almost 10 years ago and I'd rather go somewhere new, but I'm thrilled that Brian won't have to deploy while we're there. Plus, we'll finally be able to buy a house which I'm really excited about. I'll finally have a craft room where I can stamp! I won't have to use Connor's little plastic table and pull everything out of the closet any more.

So, I got my first two Papertrey RAK cards today. It's so nice to get real mail, other than bills. The first card is from Holly (graybune). She used the Boxes, Bags and Tags stamp set, which I love. I bought it last month but haven't had the chance to use it yet.


The second card I received is from Sheri (sheric12). It is adorable and she used the Little Lady stamp set. That's one that I still don't have but must get sometime. It is so cute. The ladybug is so cute on this card and the close up doesn't do it justice.





That's about it for me. Thanks for looking and have a great day,

He really is coming home!

I still don't believe it. Brian really is coming home!!! It was supposed to be today, but now he's not coming until tomorrow morning. Connor is going to be so excited when he sees his daddy. Even though it's only for a few days it couldn't come at a better time.

I made this card for someone in the PTI RAK group. I used the Polka Dot Basics set from Papertrey Ink. I love that set. On the purple paper I used Versamark ink and I was stamping at night and with the bad light in our living room I didn't think the polka dots were showing up. The next morning I saw them in the light and they kind of look pink on the purple paper. Not really the look I was going for, but oh well. The hello metal tag was white and I just inked it with the Papertrey Aqua Mist and added a Dew Drop.


Recipe
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics (Papertrey)
Cardstock: Petal (CTMH); White (Office Depot)
Ink: Aqua Mist (Papertrey); Versamark (Tsukineko)
Accents: Aqua Mist Twill Ribbon (Papertrey); Flower Brad (Making Memories); Hello tag (Making Memories); Dew Drop (Robin's Nest)
Tools: Corner Rounder (EK Success)

Thanks for looking and have a great day,

A few more Easter cards

I forgot that I had a few more Easter cards. This one is my least favorite of the bunch.


Recipe
Stamps: Eastertime (Close To My Heart); Mixed Messages, Borders and Corners Circle (Papertrey)
Cardstock: Crystal Blue, Yellow (CTMH); White (Office Depot)
Ink: Petal, Blush, Sweet Leaf, Buttercup (CTMH)
Accents: Autumn Garden Sassy Strands (CTMH)
Tools: Circle punch (Fiskars); Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Cuttlebug; Corner rounder (EK Success)


This card I made for Brian. It's hard to make cards for men, especially an Easter one where I'd typically use pastel colors. He'd absolutely hate that and he actually doesn't even care if I make him cards, but I still do. He probably just throws them in the garbage, but I like making them.





Recipe
Stamps: Eastertime (CTMH)
Cardstock: Indian Corn Blue, Bamboo, Olive (CTMH)
Ink: Indian Corn Blue, Bamboo (CTMH)
Accents: Indian Corn Blue Eyelets (CTMH); Chipboard tag (Basic Grey)
Tools: Word Window Punch (Stampin Up); Crop-a-dile


Have a great day!

Awesome News Today (and Easter cards)

Great news today! Brian called me from Iraq this morning and told me he'd probably be coming back to Germany next week for some training for a few days. I've been around the Army long enough to know not to get my hopes up though. He called back a few hours later and told me to book the hotel because his commander said that it's a good time for him to come back. If he doesn't make it next week, then he'll most likely come back sometime in the next two months. He still has 6 months left of this stupid 15 month deployment, since I'm sure that General Petraeus won't be telling Congress today that our guys should come home early. Still, I won't believe it until I see him in person. I'm definitely not telling Connor (our 3 year old) because he'll be crushed if I tell him that Daddy's coming home and then he doesn't show up. He's been having a really hard time the past few weeks and just randomly cries for his Daddy and tells me he wants him to come home. I absolutely hate it but there's not much I can do about it. Anyway, I guess we'll see if Brian makes it back or not. I'm definitely not getting my hopes up (I'm such a pessimist...always expecting the worst).

Okay, enough about my life. Back to the cards. Here are the Easter cards that I sent out a few weeks ago. I pretty much just used the one stamp set (Eastertime) from Close To My Heart since it's the only Easter set I have. For the first card, since I didn't have anything to make grass from I just drew it and cut it out with my scissors.

Recipe
Stamps: Eastertime (Close To My Heart)
Cardstock: Sweet Leaf (CTMH); White (Office Depot)
Ink: Sweet Leaf, Blush, Crystal Blue, Petal, Sunkiss Yellow, Honey (CTMH); Iris (Palette)
Accents: Brads (Making Memories)

For the second card, I didn't have a corner slot punch so I just used a circle punch and it actually worked. I think I'll use a smaller one next time so the corners are more rounded. I also didn't have a stamp that said Happy Easter that was small enough for the card so I spelled it out with my Sans Alphabet (CTMH). I like that set but the letters are so small that they're hard to line up. Definitely takes some patience.



Recipe
Stamps: Eastertime , Sans Alphabet (Close To My Heart)
Cardstock: Petal (CTMH); Pink (Bazzill); White (Office Depot)
Ink: Sweet Leaf, Spring Iris, Petal (CTMH), Iris (Palette); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accents: Ribbon (Offray); Dewdrops (Robin's Nest)
Tools: Circle punch (Fiskars); Cuttlebug; Swiss Dots Embossing Folder (Provocraft)

And a non-stamping card. It was a lot quicker to make and I like it almost as much as the others. I need to make more cards with just patterned paper and a few embellishments.


Recipe
Cardstock: Petal (Close To My Heart)
Patterned Paper: Nana's Kids (Die Cuts With a View)
Accents: Spring Buttons (CTMH); Rub ons (Making Memories); Stickles


Thanks for looking,

Babies, Babies, Babies

I have a few friends that have just had or are having babies sometime in the next few months so I get the chance to make baby cards and gifts. First is a card I sent to a family friend who just had a baby. I got the idea from Niki who won honorable mention for the Papertrey Guest Star Stamper (her card is much better though). When I made it I didn't have my Nestabilities yet, so I just used a couple of circle punches, my papercutter, and some scalloped scissors. I wanted to use patterned paper, but I didn't have anything that looked good so I stamped the watermark on the background blue paper instead. It's the first time I've done it and it turned out pretty well I think.

Recipe
Stamps: Mixed Messages (Papertrey); Sweet Pea (Fiskars)
Cardstock: Indian Corn Blue (Close To My Heart), Bazzill, White (Office Depot)
Ink: Indian Corn Blue (CTMH); Versamark (Tsukineko)
Accents: Buttons (Unknown); Baby RicRac (Wrights); Rub On (Scenic Route); Embroidery floss (DMC)
Tools: Scalloped scissors (Fiskars)


I made this baby card a while back for my friend Amy who had just found out she was pregnant. I'd just gotten my new Papertrey stamps, ink, and patterned paper that day so I had to play with it. I love polka dots, so the Polka Dots Basic stamp set is awesome!

Recipe
Stamps: Mixed Messages, Polka Dot Basics (Papertrey)
Cardstock: White (Office Depot)
Patterned Paper: Everyday Blessings (Papertrey)
Ink: Aqua Mist (Papertrey), Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accents: Aqua Mist Swiss Dot Satin Ribbon (Papertrey)
Tools: Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Cuttlebug; Circle punch (Fiskars)



My friend Katie is having a baby in May and I had a baby boy stamp set that I wanted to give her. I couldn't figure out a good way to wrap it then Lisa Johnson came out with this tutorial for the Treat-a-Lope so I had to try it. I needed a bigger bag than she had made so instead of using an envelope I just used two pieces of cardstock and glued them together. It was really easy and looked pretty cool. I'll definitely be doing this one again because I like the way it turned out.

Recipe
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics (Papertrey); From Me To You (CTMH); Baby Boy (Hero Arts)
Cardstock: Aqua Mist (Papertrey); White (Office Depot)
Ink: Aqua Mist (Papertrey); Iris (Palette), Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accents: Aqua Mist Swiss Dot Satin Ribbon, Aqua Mist Twill Ribbon (Papertrey); Flower eyelets (Making Memories)
Tools: Circle punch (Fiskars); Scallop circle punch (Marvy Uchida); Crop-a-dile

Thanks for looking,

A Couple of RAK Cards I Made

First, I'd like to thank everyone who posted comments on my first card. I really appreciate them. I can't believe anyone would look at my blog, let alone comment on anything. Thanks!

Here are a couple of RAK cards I sent out last week. I joined the RAK (Random acts of kindness) group on the Papertrey forum but I've been a little apprehensive about sending anything. I'm really new to stamping and normally only make cards for friends and family but I bit the bullet and sent the first two.

First is a card I sent to Leah for her new baby Ayana. It's a card I made in Amy's card class so I really can't take credit for it. It's all her idea and I just assembled it. I'm not going to post the recipe for this card, but you can find it on Amy's blog if you're interested.


This next card I sent to Heather (hmj) who lives nearby in Frankfurt. Of course, with our wonderful postal service here in Germany the card got to Leah in the states a lot quicker than the one to Heather, even though she's only 20 minutes away.




Recipe
Stamps: For Every Occasion (Close To My Heart)
Cardstock: Spring Moss (Papertrey); White (Office Depot)
Patterned Paper: Everyday Blessings (Papertrey)
Ink: Versamark (Tsukineko); White embossing powder (CTMH)
Accents: Flower (Prima); Brad (Making Memories)
Tools: paper punches (Creative Memories)

Thanks for looking,