A Short Cut to Thank You Notes

I cannot believe how fast this month is flying by!! This week is school vacation and I have been looking forward to this for the last month. After this there are only two months of school left. I cannot wait for summer!!!

I am going to make a confession. I am a card maker but I almost never make my own thank you notes. Usually it is because I have too many to make around holidays or my birthday and so I wind up going out and buying them. I was determined NOT to do this anymore and had to figure out a way to make my own cards but make it easy on myself. Here is what I came up with.

First I bought some plain notecards for $1.50 from Michaels. Yes, I could have just sent these but what is the fun of that? I am a HUGE fan of orange and knew that I could just doctor these cards to make them my own using supplies I already had on hand.

First I went through my patterned papers scraps and die cut a bunch of shapes using Paper Trey Ink's limitless layers 1 3/4" circle dies.

 I then went through my stamp pads and picked some colors that would match the die cuts I had created.

Next I chose some stamps, stamped the images and then die cut the stamps to make the focal point of my card. Here is a few of the finished cards:

The thing I liked about this project the most was that I really only spent $1.50 to create this cards because I used things I already had on hand. I love when that happens. I think that I am going to make some sets of these to give away as gifts.

I just wanted to post a close up of one of the cards too!!

This wasn't the only project that I had to make this month. My father was quite ill so I made a card and sent a care package to cheer him up.

I used a combination of Echo Park and My Mind's Eye products to create this. My daughter said it looked too much like a birthday card but who said get well cards can't be festive too?

That is all for today!! Happy Sunday!!

Nora

Did you miss me?

Hello everyone!! I haven't posted in exactly two months and I feel bad. I was doing so well!!

Things have been crazy around here and I wasn't doing too many projects. I lost my mojo somewhere along the line. I am back though and wanted to share a few of the things I have been doing.

I had a few birthdays last month so I created a few cards. The first was for my friend, Donna.

This card is a combination of old and new supplies. I used Aqua Mist card stock and patterned paper from Paper Trey Ink, as well as their houndstooth background. LOVE the pink on pink!! I then stamped the sentiment on a Making Memories die cut and finished the card off with a Prima butterfly.

Here is a close put of the detail. It is such a simple card but love how it came out!!

I liked the design of the first card so much that I created a second card that was based off it using similar supplies. Instead of the label, I used punch and added a button.

The next two cards I created were for my cousin and a request of my friend to make a card to give to someone. I basically CASED the cards off this card design by Dawn McVey-the card maker I want to be when I grow up. I LOVE her stuff!!! If you haven't ever been to her blog, set aside some time because her creations are fantastic!!

Both of these cards I created were for males. I used Paper Trey Ink stamps and my Silhouette machine to created the die cuts.

Here is the card with the matching envelope. I love this color scheme so much that I used it again on the card below.

I chose to only layer two stars for this card and stamp a cupcake on the second one. I hate making the same exact card twice so this is how I mixed it up.

This last card I created I made for another friend. I used almost all scraps to complete it too!!

This was for a challenge over at Scrapjazz.com. It was to create a card with a window. I die cut a scalloped circle into the green card stock, stamped some Paper Trey Ink birthday sentiments from various sets onto it and layered it over the "It's your day" image. The only thing I would change about this card is the ribbon. I only had a small piece in this shade of pink and I can see the cutting on the edge of the bow isn't so hot. Oh well, it is home made!!!

Thank you for browsing today. Have a great weekend!!

Nora

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I just thought I would post a quick one today. I wanted to showcase the treat bags I made for work. I originally created a few of these little bags to give away for Valentine's Day but decided I wanted to do something a little bit different. I chose to keep the kraft colored card stock as my base but stamped them with a few different Paper Trey Ink stamps. I also used various stamps and die cuts for the tops of the bags. I assembled them in an assembly line style.

The first one I made I used a little tag I had lying around with a little heart as my focal point.

I chose not to use this design because I would have had to die cut by hand all the little tags and I didn't feel like spending time on that. I also used black ink on the banner and I decided I didn't like the looks.

Instead I chose to cut hearts out with my Silhouette digital cutter and stamp the Happy Valentine's Day in red ink. I figured that using a digital cutter would make it faster!! I filled them with Dove milk and dark chocolate hearts.

 I am hoping my fellow co-workers will enjoy getting a treat for Valentine's Day!!

Nora

Paper Trey Ink Day #9

Paper Trey Ink has had challenge contests the last 8 days. I was able to join in again today. The challenge was to create something that contained both leaves and butterflies. I chose to make a card. Please excuse the lighting on this card as I took it with artificial light.

I used PTI Berry Sorbet and Spring Moss as my color palette. The stamp sets I used for this are PTI's Turning a New Leaf and Flower Fusion #1. I used Flower Fusion #1 die and Love Live's Here die for the butterfly. The flowers I used a pop dot to lift them off the page.

I love how this card came out and will be sending this to one of my friend's whom I haven't seen in over a year.

Thank you for looking!!

Nora

Paper Trey Ink Anniversary Day #2, Card #2

Three posts in one day? That is unheard of for me!! I created another card for Paper Trey Ink's day 2 anniversary challenge. I used the free image designed by Dawn McVey. I want to be her when I grow up!!! (though I know I am older then her by about 10 years) I LOVE her style!!

My card didn't come out the way I pictured it but that is ok. You would think this took me minutes to make but took hours because I played around with ribbon to try and make a nice bow but it just didn't look right. I finally decided on this floss I had in a box but it wasn't what I really wanted. I knew I should have bought the Doodlebug Twine in Bubblegum!!! It would have been perfect!

The polka dots peeking out is a  Mat Stack #3 stamped image. The "Happy Birthday" sentiment is the free image you can download from Nichole Heady's blog today. I also used some Raspberry Fizz paper and the limitless layers 1 3/4" dies once again. I think I would try this design again but with different colors.

Have a great night!!

Nora