HAPPY 4th of JULY!!

Where liberty dwells, there is my country.
- Benjamin Franklin

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. —

Shirley's 2 Girls - Who Let the Dogs Out?

My entry for the Twisted Thursday Card Challenge over at the Ladies With an Attitude blog. The layout is modified, but there is definitely purple in the card. My new "BFF" stamp set from Shirley's 2 Girls just arrived today and is a perfect welcome card to give my sister's two Wire Haired Terriers, Jake and Fergie who will be arriving Tuesday with my niece and sister to spend the summer with Zoe, my Whippet and me. The two dogs kinda look like a Wire and a Whippet, don't you think?


Stamps: S2G - BFF Stamp Set; PTI - Polka Dot Basics
Paper: SU! - Perfect Plum, Black; PTI - Guide Lines Patterned Paper
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Ranger Distress Ink Black Soot.
Window Dressing: PTI Plum Pudding Twill Ribbon, EK Success border punch, Go West Whimsey Canine acrylic paw print, Adirondack Shell Pink Paint Daubber, Lyra Rembrandt Pencils, mineral spirits.

Wishing Shirley's Two Girls a Happy Anniversary!

Be sure and check out the blog candy that is being offered over at Chick's With Tape in celebration of their company Shirley's Two Girls!

Thinking of you and wishing you well.. TGH..

(click on the card to view a larger version)

This card is for a long time friend. Hoping the next few days go by quickly and his recovery is not only fast but complete. Thinking of you today and many tomorrows.


Stamps: PTI- Tea for Two: Cornish Heritage Farms - Aged Sheet Music Scrapblock
Paper: SU! - Kraft, Elegant Eggplant; PTI - Ripe Avocado, Very Vanilla.
Ink: SU! Elegant Eggplant, Always Artichoke; Versamark Clear.
Window Dressing: White embossing powder, Gold embossing powdeSU! Gold organdy ribbon (which I think I will replace with PTI Ripe Avocado twill ribbon and a small button.)

Memorial Day Cards for Heros Blog Hop

On this Memorial Day weekend set a little time aside to remember all the men and women who have put themselves in harms way to keep our country free. If you are a stamper, scrapbooker, card maker or can write a note of encouragement, visit Cards For Heros and find out how you can get involved. The link above will take you directly to the Cards For Heros Bloghop

So Many Birthdays.. So Much Fun!

I realised last night that another one of my work associates had a birthday coming up Saturday and that the last day I would see her before her birthday was today.. Friday. I pushed aside the current project I was working on and though for a few minutes. Olive green and blues are her favourite colours so my paper and ink choices were a snap! Heather Nichols' stamp set Around and About Sentiments somehow just magically popped out of the huge stack of Papertrey Ink stamp sets, as I scanned the huge stack for my stamp choices. This is another one of my favourite tried and true sets.




After I photographed the card I decided a small detail was needed to "finish off" the card. A small button from PTI's New Leaf button collection and added it to the center of the little flower by tying white waxed linen thread in to a small bow.


Stamps: PTI- Around and About Sentiments
Paper: PTI - Stamper's Select White, Ocean Tides, PTI - Patterned Paper Polka Dot Parade
Ink: PTI Ocean Tides and Ripe Avocado
Window Dressing: Spellbinders Nestabilities Scalloped Circles , PTI Ocean Tides Polka Dot Satin Ribbon and Ripe Avocado Top Notch Twill, PTI - New Leaft Button, Corner Rounder Punch Create-a-Cut paper cutter.

Tea for Two and You Are Sixty Too! Happy Birthday Becky!

My friendly UPS driver, or was it my friendly USPS driver.. I never know because I am always at work when when they leave my packages, had delivered my Papertrey order yesterday and it was waiting for me when I came home. I'm always excited to receive my PTI packages, but this one was one I was doubly anticipating. The Tea for Two set is a set I've been hoping for for a long time. A friend at work, who is an avid tea drinker is having a birthday on Friday and I wanted to make her a birthday card using this set.
I hope she likes it!

Stamps: PTI- Tea for Two
Paper: PTI - Stamper's Select White, Summer Sunrise, PTI - Patterned Paper Polka Dot Parade
Ink: PTI Ocean Tides, Dark Chocolate
Window Dressing: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Four, Ribbon Tags Trio, PTI Ocean Tides Satin Ribbon, PTI Aqua Mist Buttons, Corner Rounder Punch, Button from button jar.

Bitty Baby CD Envelope Gift..

One of the things I enjoy most about my crafting is being able to make gifts and cards for family and friends to share with their friends. My sister called me last week from Denver and said she needed a small gift for a baby shower she was attending. The gift needed to be for a little boy and his room colours were to be moss, black, and white. Since both my sister and I enjoy music, I thought it would be a good opportunity to come up with a CD case that would contain hand picked music just for a little baby boy. If you look very closely the spring moss square directly behind the baby elephant is stamped using PTI's Polka Dot Basics in Fresh Snow. The bright early morning sun washed out the stamping from the eye of the camera. The baby gift and enclosure card, which mirrors the CD case is in the mail as of this morning, along with some other surprises for my sister and niece.

Stamps: PTI- Bitty Baby Blessings, Polka Dot Basics
Paper: PTI - Stamper's Select White, Kraft, Spring Moss, Patterned Paper Bitty Dot Basics, Vellum, SU Patterned Paper
Ink: PTI Fresh Snow
Window Dressing: Spellbinders Nestabilities Squares and Scalloped Squares, PTI True Black Swiss Dot Satin Ribbon, PTI True Black Buttons

Birthday Wishes for a Friend

One of my many Christmas presents from my sister was a set of Cuttlebug embossing borders. I've really fallen in love with these. The interior Raspberry Fizz scalloped overlay is embossed with the same floral design as can be seen on the outside of the card.When the card is opened the embossed image repeats its self both right and left of the spine of the card which makes an interesting detail to the inside of the card. The embossing on the outside of the card was "lightly dusted" with PTI's Fresh Snow cube. I particularly like using the cubes as they allow me more controlin application. Now to try out the Decorative Circles and Squares Folders she also gave me.

Stamps: PTI- Tags fpr Spring, Out On a Limb Sentiments
Paper: PTI - Stamper's Select White, Kraft, Raspberry Fizz, Making Memories-Pink Gingham
Ink: Raspberry Fizz, Fresh Snow
Window Dressing: Spellbinders Nestabilities Circles, Nested Birds, Cuttlebug Embossing Borders Folder-Frills and full size folder-Polka Dots, Doodlebug Jewels, Pebbles Inc. Chalks, Create-a-Cut Paper Cutter, SU - Flower Punch, Scor-tape

Easter Wishes..

For I remember it is Easter morn,
And life and love and peace are all new born.
~Alice Freeman Palmer


An Easter Card for my Mother.


Stamps: PTI- Friends 'Till the End, Mixed Mega Messages
Paper: PTI - Stamper's Select White, Kraft, Raspberry Fizz, Friends 'Till the End Patterned Paper
Ink: Raspberry Fizz, Versamark
Window Dressing: PTI - Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, White Embossing Powder, Doodlebug Jewels, Wrights Baby Rick Rack and Medium Rick Rack, Trim from Wal-Mart, Corner Rounder, Scor-tape

My Cute Stamps Easter Giveaway!

My Cute Stamps is hosting a Giveaway of one of their absolutely precious stamp sets, Jelly Beans, in celebration of Easter Week. You can read about the the details over at the Creating Cupcakes blog.


My niece was born in Russia so My Cute Stamps Matryoshka Dolls stamp set has special meaning for me.


The Matryoshka dolls or Russian nested dolls is actually a set of dolls of decreasing sizes placed one inside the other. "Matryoshka" or Матрёшка is a derivative of the Russian female first name "Matryona" which was a very popular name among peasants in old Russia.

Matryoshkas date from 1890, and are said to have been inspired by souvenir dolls from Japan, however, the concept of nested objects was familiar in Russia, having been applied to carved wooden apples and Easter eggs. The first "Fabergé egg", in 1885, had a nesting of egg, yolk, hen, and chick.

A set of matryoshkas consists of a wooden figure which can be pulled apart to reveal another figure of the same sort inside. It has, in turn, another figure inside, and so on. The number of nested figures is usually five or more. The shape is mostly cylindrical, rounded at the top for the head and tapered towards the bottom, but little else; the dolls have no hands (except those that are painted). Traditionally the outer layer is a woman, dressed in a sarafan. Inside, it contains other figures that may be of both genders, usually ending in a baby that does not open. The artistry is in the painting of each doll, which can be extremely elaborate.

Matryoshkas are often designed to follow a particular theme, for instance peasant girls in traditional dress, but the theme can be anything, from fairy tale figures to characters of Soviet leaders.

Pictured: The first original matryoshka set carved by Zvezdochkin and painted by Malyutin, located at the Sergiev Posad Museum of Toys, Russia.

One Cute Birdie

I woke up this morning to one of my favorite sounds. The little birds were perched in my nearly ready to bloom Magnolia tree just singing their little hearts out. The bird feeder was stocked and the spring rains had filled the little pond just beyond my back porch. Thus the inspiration for another card using those absolutely precious My Cute Stamps set Spunky Nature.


Stamps: My Cute Stamps - Spunky Nature PTI - Sentiment: Birds of a Feather
Paper: PTI - PTI White, True Black, Patterned 2008 Bitty Dot Basics. Little Yellow Bicycle - Love Letters
Ink: PTI New Leaf, Hibiscus. True Black
Window Dressing: PTI - New Leaf Saddle Stitch Ribbon, PTI Vintage Buttons Black and Cream and WhiteSpellbinders Tags Nestabilities Flowers, Londonberry Linen Thread - Black