Celebrate Spring with Paper Trey

I got to play yesterday afternoon with some of my new Paper Trey stuff. I had Joey home sick and my DH. Can I just quietly say there is nothing worse than a sick hubby-but I will not go on!!! Anyway, the house needed to stay quiet so that left me free from feeling like I should be acting like a housewife and allowed me to retreat to the germ free zone of my stamping room. I used the adorable Celebrate Spring stamp out of the JUST HATCHED set and the little flourish on either side is from EVERYDAY BLESSINGS.
This probably doesn't really help but I tried to get closer in so the you could see the little tiny self stick rhinestone from Hero Arts that I used. I love the dreamy Paper Trey colors.
I used the EVERYDAY BLESSINGS patterned paper here too, along with quite a few of the stamps out of the EVERYDAY BLESSINGS stamp set. The only non Paper Trey thing here is the scallop punch that I used. And isn't that satin Aqua Mist ribbon gorgeous?!?!?


Paper: PT Everyday Blessings, Spring Moss, Aqua Mist
Sets: PT Just Hatched and Everyday Blessings
Ink: PT Spring Moss and Aqua Mist
Accessories: PT Aqua Mist satin ribbon

Paper Trey Egg Box

I had to play with one of the two new Paper Trey Egg Boxes that I bought last month. It's not quite a complete project but I will share the inside finished later.I used Paper Trey's Everyday Blessings patterned paper to cover the top of the box. The ribbon is also Paper Trey-isn't the polka dot so cute? I stamped all the way around the bottom edge with a stamp out of the Everyday Blessings stamp set.
I just wanted you to be able to see the top of the box as well. I love this soft green color!!!

Sorry quick post, another person home sick today in my house. Ahhh...the joy's of being a nurse...at home and work!

Prayer for a Stranger

Well, I've tended to not get overly personal on my blog, but I have to say that I am having a oddly melonchaly day here. I seem to be greatly affected today by a tragic story that has unfolded here in Minnesota. I know that this story made nation news, but perhaps you may be unfamiliar with it. Last week 4 students were killed in a school bus crash in the small community of Cottonwood Minnesota. 2 of those killed were brothers, and for some unknown reason I am feeling such emense heartache for that family that I cannot even begin to explain it. I do not know this family, I do not know anyone that knows them, Cottonwood is no where close to my part of Minnesota, but I just ache for this family today. I cannot explain why am affected in this way by this particular story, but for some reason I am. The younger of the brothers, was 9 years old, the same age as my oldest and perhaps that has something to do with it. He also has a twin sister. I just cannot even imagine starting your day off as normal and watching your kids go off to school and you never see them again. I put my boys on the bus every day, and cannot imagine them not stepping back off at the end of the day. And to loose two of them....unimaginable! How do you possibly live out the rest of your life? It is days like this, stories like this, that test my faith. I have always considered a faithful person, not religious, but very faithful, and a absolutely believe in the power of prayer, and the idea that everything happens for a reason. But how do you see the reasoning in this...a great challenge that is greater than us and must be turned over to the Lord. I have lived through watching a my best friend cope with the unexpected loss of a 3 year old daughter, and perhaps I ache all the more for this family knowing the road that is ahead. To add to the tragedy, this family has previously lost a child. I clearly do not understand the "why" in this case. That family is burying those boys today. Somewhere in Minnesota they are saying goodbye to their boys, and my heart and prayers go out to them. I ache for people that I do not know and I ask that when you go to bed tonight (and in the coming nights) that you pray for this family. That they will find the strength to live without Jesse and Hunter. It is the only thing I know to do to help them and I ask that you do the same. I decided to make a card for this family and was able to find their address in a search. It is not my place to post it here, but I would share the address if you felt like you would like to do the same.Paper Trey's new Everyday Blessings set, which ended up being the PERFECT thing for this card. I love the sentiment on the front, "Someone remembers, someone cares, your name is whispered in someone's prayers". I colored the cross in with a blender pen and added a brad from the hodgepodge hardware kit. I feel a little odd explaining this card, as it wasn't really meant for the blog, but I was compelled to share where I am at today.
I do not mean to minimize the fact that there are 2 other families in the same position as the Javens, but I am struck by there story.Remembering the school bus crash victims. The following is a description of each of the 4 students that died last week:

February 21, 2008
The four Lakeview School students killed in Tuesday's school bus crash near Cottonwood, Minn., were Emilee Olson, brothers Hunter Javens and Jesse Javens, and Reed Stevens. Relatives and friends share memories of the children.

EMILEE OLSON, 9

Charles and Traci Olson of Cottonwood adopted Emilee in China when she was 10 months old. Relatives said first sight meant everything.

"She looked up at Traci from the floor, and their eyes met, and you knew that it was meant to be from that moment on," said Terri Hutchinson, Emilee's aunt and Traci's sister, who joined Traci in China.

Emilee was already crawling, strong and vibrant that day, her aunt said.

"She sang in choir, learned to play piano and picked up pieces real easily," Hutchinson said. "Her sister Bailee played, and she could pretty much play the (song) right away.

"She was energetic, fun, loving. Loved life. Very talented with a smile on her face all the time. She lit up a room. Such a beautiful young girl with so much left."

Emilee's mother is a physical education teacher at the school.

HUNTER JAVENS, 9

Hunter loved basketball, football, wrestling and baseball. He also liked video games, drawing and hanging out with his friends. Friends described him as a happy-go-lucky kid.

Hunter was a fourth grader at Lakeview School. He and brother Jesse were the sons of Marty and Rita Javens of Cottonwood.

Robert Javens, a great uncle to Hunter and Jesse, said the boys "were just typical kids."

"They weren't no angels and they weren't no devils. They were normal kids."

JESSE JAVENS, 13

Jesse was a big pro wrestling fan and could be the class clown at times. The seventh-grader liked hunting and being on the middle school football team.

"It hit everybody in the town really hard, but especially this family, with two of them gone," said Terry Lange, ex-brother-in-law of the boys' father, Marty Javens.

In addition, Lange said, Hunter has a twin sister, and there are four older siblings in the blended family.

"All you can do is just be with them," he said of the family members. "Everybody is still in shock."

REED STEVENS, 12

Reed was remembered as outgoing, with an interest in sports, leadership and a strong faith.

The seventh-grader was the son of Dan and Kandy Stevens of Marshall.

"Reed was a young man who loved God, his country and his family. And he also loved his football family. We know that he is with the Lord," his mother, a former teacher at the school, said in a statement read by Superintendent Sheldon Johnson.

Reed had helped organize a "gather at the pole" prayer event at Lakeview School, and was planning for a trip to Australia as a People to People student ambassador this summer.

"He had a lot of imagination," friend Quinn Fenger said. "He liked to draw a lot of fantasy stuff."

There's now a memorial fund in place at a bank in Cottonwood for the families of the four students.

Contributions can be sent to:

Lakeview School Memorial Fund

c/o United Southwest Bank

PO Box 288

Cottonwood, MN 56229-0288

---Information from the Marshall Independent

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


I am oddly mixed with deep contempt for the woman you killed these children. An illegal immigrant who is lying to police about her real identity. She has no drivers license and is now claiming the bus ran into her-THERE IS NO WAY! If you have seen the pictures of the damaged bus and how it was over turned there is one person at fault here. But I don't want to focus on her, I am sorry that she does not recognize the gravity of her actions, but I understand that someday she will have to face a great force and she will have the proper judgement day. Sorry for the long post, I write with a heavy heart today.
I promise to not make this a habit.
Kat

Please pray for all of these families.

I really am alive!

It's true, I really am still alive. It's amazing how some weeks are just more condusive to investing time into stamping and posting and some weeks it just doesn't work. But I have great news-I have joined the millenium!!! To those of you that are computer savvy-check this out-I just got DSL. Do you have any idea what that means????? It means the cobwebs can stop growing on me and my computer when I post to the blog. You have NO IDEA how much time it would take me to post something, especially a tutorial. I can't even believe how much time this will save me. I can't believe we went this long without it. As I previously have mentioned, DH, not a techy guy at ALL. Can check his email (once a week) and that's about it. Somehow I let his low tech life influence mine and I was just a step above snail mail. I have no idea why I didn't do this sooner. Do you know that I have never been to YOU TUBE until this last week? My dial up couldn't buffer it in. Anyway, a whole new world has opened up for me!
I did want to get something posted though. I made this adorable 5 in 1 template box (a splitcoast tutorial) using Paper Trey's Beautiful Blooms and Mixed Messages sets. I have to give credit for the flower to a customer of my upline. She made a card using the 5 petal punch with the petals folded up. I have to get her name again and give here the proper credit. Doesn't it just make the cutest accent?
The center of the flower is a metal self stick dot from the dollar bin at JoANN Fabrics.
I made another box that I will try to post tomorrow.
Here's the Recipe:
Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Very Vanilla
Ink: Bravo Burgundy, Almost Artichoke, Apricot Appeal
Accessories: Apricot Ribbon, 5 petal punch, small flower from Boho Blossoms punch, metal dot from JoAnn Fabrics
Technique: 5 in 1 template box from Splitcoast tutorial

Holiday Treat Caramel Bags

I ordered these Paper Trey frosted bags when they first came out not having any idea what I was going to do with them. In the last couple of years, I've kind of become known for making homemade caramels at Christmas time. Well little did I know that these little bags would end up making the perfect caramel holder! I used white Staz On ink to stamp the snowflakes right on the bags and then the Holidays Treats set and the oval scallop punch made the perfect quick gift! I gave these little bags to teachers, religious education teachers, the bus driver, and a number of other people. Nicole Heady is genius!!!!!!

With Gratitude

Unbelievable that I haven't posted for 2 weeks. I've decided my life is way busier than I thought it was, and this time of year is just crazy!

Anyway here's an altered gratitude journal. I highly recommend a book named Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach. It's a daybook that teaches you the importance of having gratitude in you life. Some days it is a struggle, but it does change your outlook when you take time each day to find things to be grateful for.
That being said, I made this journal to jot down my daily gratitudes down in for the new year.First off is the journal I bought. It was $2.49 at Kmart. It's a Mead hardcover notebook that actually didn't look to bad on it's own. The hard surface makes it perfect for altering.
Next I cut down a piece of chocolate chip paper to the right size. I used Paper Trey's Spiral Boquet set and began by stamping with Ballet Blue craft ink.
Next I covered with white craft ink using the outlining image from this set, along with smaller coordinating stamp.
Here is journal finished, with that piece of paper attached, and a piece of Martha Stewarts decorative tape (ribbon) running down the seam of the paper. I also attached a long piece of brown ribbon to the binding using a piece from the Hodgepodge Hardware kit. Along the bottom I stung on some beads from the Pretties kit.
This is just the inside so you could get a better look at the ribbon and the beading to make the pretty page marker.

If I don't get to posting, a very Merry Christmas to all of you who stop to check and see what I am up to.

Kat

"BELIEVE" in Santa?

Every year, my mom, sister and I get together and take a day to make Christmas cards. Last Monday was our day to create this year and I had to share with you my favorite card from this years creations. It uses the Santa from Paper Trey's Believe set. I used the Diamond Dust technique were the whole piece of paper the Santa is on is covered in Versamark and then sprinkled with Iridescent Ice and heat set. The Believe on the bottom was stamped in versamark and heat set with Iridescent Ice as well. He's really sparkly and pretty in person. I think the whole day I used Paper Trey sets-bad Stampin' Up demo, bad Stampin' Up demo!!
Have a good Monday all!!!

Spooky Sweets Candy Cup Tutorial

Finally, a new tutorial!!!!! So this is another inspiration that I took out of convention this year. These little candy cups are so cute and fairly simple to make. The first one takes the longest just to establish the the template, after that it's quick easy production. (Let me just say before you start looking, I realized that I have a couple of fussy pictures and I TOTALLY apologize. They looked okay on my little screen, but then when I edited-not so great. You'll get the idea, as they are kind of non-essential ones, but just wanted to apologize.)Alright, start with your Dixie cup. I think mine are 5 oz ones, the medium sized bathroom ones. Mine were the kind of waxy ones, I would maybe recommend getting the more papery ones.
Roll the curled edge of the cup up to make it easier for the next step.
Cut that top edge off following the line of the picture. Pull the cup apart at the seam and remove the bottom.
Your cup should be looking like this.
Use that to make a template out of a scrap that you can retain and use again and again.
Trace onto your designer paper. I was able to trace 4 of them onto a piece of 12x12.
Now cut out one of them, it should look like this.
Now you will wrap your cup. I used adhesive and sticky strip on the two connecting edges to make sure it would stay on.
Now before you see it finished, I wanted you to see my ribbon. I took orange ribbon from the Halloween pack I bought at Micheals, the Martha stuff. Then I stamped "Treats" from Spooky Sweets from Paper Trey. Viola, I have my own designer ribbon-fun huh?
Last I stamped the Spooky Sweets, punched it out with an oval punch (wish I had the scalloped one for that size, but alas I can't own everything.), direct to paper added the orange ink. Now pay attention this is the fun part: Punch a hole with your 1/8 hole punch and make a little snip up to the hole. This will allow your tag to sit right on your cup.
Here we are-ALL DONE!!! See how that little tag sits on there? FUN FUN FUN! Filled with Hershey nuggets that have been altered using Paper Trey's Spooky Sweets set.

ENJOY ALL!!!!

Paper Trey Halloween Card

I have to make this post really quick, a million things to do today. I just wanted to get a new something up for today. This is a little shadow box card that I made with Paper Trey's halloween set. I wish I had more time to chat, but I gotta run.

It's a GIGA FLOWER!!!!

All right, I'm BACK!!!!!!! Here's my lastest tutorial, you could look at it 2 ways-I'm either late with last weeks tutorial, or early for tomorrow!!! It's all a matter of perspective!!!! Well I decided that the Giga Circle punch just begs to be turned into a giant flower! If you don't have any of the scalloped punches, Stampin' Up is came out with a small circle scallop punch, and Paper Trey has 20 different scallop punches for sale including the elusive GIGA punches!!!!

So the obvious is that you need to punch out the circle GIGA punch.Now, I think you need to find the center of the flower so that you can make accurate cuts.
I even drew lines from the center line to the outer edge punch. You wouldn't have to do this if you believe that you can make accurate cuts, but it's easy to get off as you start to turn it around.
Next, make all your cuts to make your petals. My picture is shows the side that does not have the pencil marks on it.
Next I took my now "flower" and scrapped it along my ink pad to texturize it. You obviously don't have to this, but the cut edges will pick up the ink to give it some depth. I found this worked better than using a sponge to do it.
Here is your flower when it is done.
Here is my finished card. This is the Stampin' Up version of it. It is a 5x5 square card. I used some of the new colors: Purely Pomegranate, River Rock, and Soft Sky. The brown is Chocolate Chip. And of course, the fun new Rhinestone Brads from Stampin' Up. The set is Baroque Motifs. You cannot go wrong with this set in my opinion.
This is my Paper Trey version on it. This the Text Boxed set from them. The colored where inspired by my new purse that I bought the go to convention. (My demo friends Kristin and Brenda are going too, and we went shopping for pajama's for the first night at convention where we are supposed to wear pajamas...anyway, we ended up with matching pajama's, purses, and shoes, and socks-we are such dorks! But FUN MATCHING dorks!!!) The point is the colors are Certainly Celery, Ruby Red, Groovy Guava and So Saffron. Same size card, 5x5. Everything used is from the Text Boxed set. Enjoy!!! Send me a link to your card if you make a GIGA flower too!!!!!

One more Paper Trey

I have to say that I am struggling with the Paper Trey Text Boxed set. NOT that it isn't a great set to work with, I'm trying TOO hard to come up with something "unique" and I have hit the creative wall. It is actally a really easy set to work with and the acrylic stamps make a BEAUTIFUL reverse image. I've seen some really cute things in Paper Trey's online gallery and I just can't make something like those. Does this happen to you???? This was last night's attempt. My goal is to use only that set. No other designer paper or embellishments, just the Text Boxed set. The blue Paper is the new Bayou Blue from Stampin'Up along with So Saffron.
And yes, it is How To Tuesday, and I spent so much time farting around with this set that I lost my perspective and started that project too late. I will get it up tomorrow or Thursday. I have to leave for work soon and just don't have the time to devote to it to get it up right now.
Thanks for looking. Happy 4th of July eve!!!