PTI February 2012 Blog Hop

I got my new Papertrey Ink (PTI) order in the mail this week.  Included in that order was a TON of new fun interactive dies they call, "Movers & Shakers", so when today's February Blog Hop came out asking us to get interactive, I was happy to give these new dies a test run.

Zipper Die being put to use

 I'm not going to lie.  I have lost sleep waiting for these sweet babies to arrive in the mail.  I was at work when they arrived and I was hoping for a sudden unexpected stomach ache that could send me straight home so I could play with my new toys...... *un*fortunately that didn't happen....none the less, I have finally made some free time to play with them.  They are so much fun!  This one is extra special because.......

Just pull the paper zipper

It doubles as a gift card holder that will entitle the recipient to a nice big delicious cup of latte.  Do you see the fun in this gift card?

A gift card is hidden safely inside.

You just RIP open the fun paper zipper and a gift card comes falling out.  FUN FUN FUN.  The girls in my stamp class are sure to LOVE this one!

One Down, Eleven To Go

Well, I can finally check off one item from my list of 2012 New Year's Resolutions.  Drum roll please .....................................................................................................................................................................................

I organized my kitchen cabinets.  Boy, what a mess these were.  I couldn't find anything I needed.  Searching for a specific spice was impossible. Here is the before shot:

With nothing more than a little elbow grease, some scrap wood, and some stacking baskets from Target, I have a well organized pantry.  Here is the after shot:

 

I have plans to buy a laminating machine and label the contents of those baskets, the green containers are dedicated to drinks, one for hot cocoa/coffee, and one for teas.  The white baskets are dedicated to odds-n-ends, one is for baking chips, coconut, marshmallows, etc and the other is for snacky foods like raisins, pudding, popcorn, etc.

All my misc flours (like cake, bread, whole wheat) are in glass containers so they are easy to see.  My spices are organized with a 3 tier "shelf".  It's not really a shelf, I looked at multiple stores and several different versions and decided they just weren't worth the $15-$25 a piece.  I went down into our basement and grabbed some of our left over wood from our kitchen floor remodel from several years ago and stacked them on top of each other until I got the height I liked.  Easy and cheap!

Here are some more before and after pictures of my kitchen cabinets.

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BEFORE: Dishes Cabinet

AFTER: Dishes Cabinet

I can't even explain to you how good it felt to donate this cabinet full of "crap" to goodwill.  I got most of the bags to the car before my hubby had time to dig through them and take half the crap back out.  He did manage to grab a few items that he promises will not make their way back into these cabinets (or he'll hear holly hell from his wife).  
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BEFORE: Storage bag drawer

AFTER: Storage bag drawer

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BEFORE: Junk drawer

AFTER: Junk drawer

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AFTER: Baking Utensils drawer

Now I have no reason to be embarrassed when a guest comes over and digs through my drawers, as a matter of fact, there will probably be no digging needed since everything is nicely organized and has its own place.

Well I'm behind pace if I want to get all twelve of my resolutions done before the end of this year.  I haven't decided what project I'll do next but I promise you, I'll blog all about here once it is finished.  

Using Pinterest for Inspiration

I just LOVE Pinterest so when today's Papertrey Ink's Contest came out today asking us all to create a card using a photo we found on Pinterest as a starting point, I was all over it.

If you have never used Pinterest, I like to think of it as an updated version of your web browser's "bookmarks" but on steroids.  You save photos of items you like from all over the web directly to Pinterest, so no more remember random sites, photos, or links, Pinterst does all that for you.  I warn you, if you have never used it, it can be a huge time waster, I could easily loss a few hours of my day surfing Pinterest for ideas. 

While surfing Pinterest tonight, I came across these cute fabric coasters and instantly wanted to recreate  them using paper.

This project can be found at Chasing Cottons blog click here.   To recreate this project, I found some left over patterned paper from another project and die cut two leaves and the small circle from PTI's dies.  I also cut out a larger circle from a template and cut out a small straight piece for the flower's stem.  I glued all parts onto a piece of 4x4 cardstock and sewed on all edges.  Once done, I glued it onto a piece of whit card stock measuring 4.25x4.25.

I little different than my normal pieces, right.  It was a lot of fun and a great excuse to break out the sewing machine on a Thursday night.  Surprisingly, the whole project took only one hour (including surfing Pinterest for ideas) from start to finish.

I hope you find your own inspiration out on the world wide web! Enjoy!

U Melt My Heart

Valentine's Day is just around the corner.  Do you know what you are getting your significant other this year?  I sure don't.  Never do.  My husband is the most difficult person to buy presents for.  He wants/needs nothing, but somehow he still manages to go to Menard's twice a week and buy stuff, seriously, at some point a man can have too many tools.  How many screwdrivers does one person need because according to my husband, he isn't there yet.  I really shouldn't complain.  I bought a ton of new products from Papertrey Ink this month, including some items that you will see below.  All of these cards are currently for sale in my etsy shop, please go check them out if your in need of a card (or two).

This one pictured above is one of my all time favorites.  I love this card.  I used some clear plastic to make the clouds appear to be floating in thin air.  I showed you this one a few weeks ago as a sneak peak to what I was working on for Valentine's Day.

This card was made utilizing my new alphabet die from PTI.  I just love it.  Classic.  Sometimes the simplest designs are the best ones.  Even though the design is fairly simple, this card is labor intensive, in addition to cutting all those letters out, I had to glue each one on individually.  This card truly says "I love you", get it?  I'm always a joker. 

And remember I told you during my last post that I was going to modify one of my thank you cards to be appropriate for Valentine's Day.  Here is it.  Isn't she a beauty?  This card uses the die on die technique that was really fun to execute.  You can't go wrong with a black, red, and white color scheme.

Last but not least, this card is just so much fun.  Rows and rows of hearts set in a rainbow color scheme.  This would make any friend smile.  This heart die was also a new item I got this month from PTI.  I tried making all the rows with white hearts but it was just too boring for me, so I changed it up and played with color.

Do you like the background of my cards?  Did you notice all the lovely water behind my cards?  That's Lake Michigan and that bench is located at my favorite spot in the whole wide city.  My spot.

I have been living in Milwaukee for 14 years now and this is my favorite spot in the whole city.  I actual thought I would get married here someday.  This is where I go when I need a moment away.  This is where I go when I need to refuel my soul.  This is where I go when the temperature hits almost 60 degrees...in February.....in Wisconsin.  

I was so excited the weather was nice enough this week that I got to sneak away on two different days this week on my lunch break to enjoy the tranquility of this park......with a camera......and my cards.  Yes, I'm a dork, but thanks to this park at least I'm a relaxed dork.  :)

Till next time we meet, find your happy place and sneak away for a while to refuel your soul.  You'll be glad you did!