Party Favours!

Ooops - made these back in November for a friend.  She needed party favours for her daughter's 7th birthday party and didn't like anything at Claire's... so glad she wound up asking me to come up with something, because it sure was fun making these!

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  PTI Rustic White
Stamps:  PTI Button Boutique
Ink:  SU! Elegant Eggplant
Dies:  PTI Button Card, Tiny Tags, Leaf Prints, Signature Series: Flower, Star Prints
Other:  PTI Felt (Hawaiian Shores, Autumn Rose, Simply Chartreuse); The Twinery Caribbean Twine; PTI  Plum Pudding Vintage Button; Robin's Nest Dew Drop - Metallic Teal

Pretty simple - cut & stamp the button card, cut a slit to slip the hair clip in to...  I put the whole thing into a little open-top bag (pretty sure they came out of the Wilton-type aisle in HL or M's) and punched two holes through the top; threaded that with baker's twine, added a stamped Tiny Tag, and called 'er done!

Hope y'all are having a great day - I'll be back (hopefully sooner than later) with all sorts of new stuff!  Lots going on around here, both with the monsters and craft-wise... life is good!

Laters,
Steph

Two Posts in One Day?!

I know, right?!  I had a chance this afternoon to play along with Deconstructed Sketch #49, and it turns out they're doing a Guest DT call with this sketch as well, so I figured I'd throw my name in.  I love Jen's sketches & doing a guest stint is just the kick in the pants I need to get back into the swing of things!  (Anyone else have a hard time making a card just to make one?  If I don't have a reason/deadline to make something, I find it falls by the wayside - and that sucks! lol)

Anyway, enough jibber-jabber... here's my card:

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  Fine Linen (PTI)
Patterned Paper:  Summer Soul (Fancy Pants)
Stamp:  Sending You (PTI)
Dies:  Delightful Doilies, Wine Bottle Tag, Love Lives Here (PTI)
Other:  Rustic Jute Button Twine, Sweet Blush Vintage Button (PTI)

See the patterned butterfly?  I fussy cut a few of the surfboards out of one of the papers in the pad, and turned them into something I could actually use!  (Living in Manitoba = not a whole lot of surfing going on!)

I'm off to the in-laws with the littlest one as soon as she finishes eating... the two bigger munchkins are already over there hanging out with the cousins, and have been all afternoon - so it was nice & quiet here for a bit!  (Yay!)

Hope you're having a great Sunday!
Steph

May Workshop...

Time for another workshop... I'm calling it a 'Mother's Day' workshop, but really, all three cards can be used for any woman/any subject you want (and I actually went with a 'Happy Birthday' sentiment on the last one).

The Details:

Date:  Saturday, May 5, 2012

Time:  2:00pm - 5:00pm

Place:  Casa Jones

$15/person

Check it:

(This one is a blue version of the card is THIS POST by Maile Belles, with a little more layering.   Why  mess with perfection?)

Have a great day!
Steph

Announcing...

...the arrival of:

Sadie Rain Jones!!

6 Lbs, 14 oz - 20.5" long!

Miss Sadie was born at 4:00PM on Saturday, March 24 - just over 3 weeks earlier than we were expecting her!  (Can I just say, it's totally strange to think that technically, she's still not supposed to be here... not until next Tuesday!)

Everything went well, and if I had been allowed to, I could have happily gone home by 6pm that same day.  Talk about short and sweet; I wasn't sure, but I thought my water broke around 11am.  After a shower, a pb&j and some Google research, I decided that in fact, it had... so I woke up Mr Jones (who had gone back to bed in an attempt to sleep off the last lingering effects of a migraine) around 12:30, and we hit the road at 1:00pm.  At 2:15, we were admitted to the hospital via the ER (being a Saturday, that was the only way in), and I think the poor woman who admitted us was thoroughly confused.  I was perfectly fine, albeit uncomfortable because I was soaked (tmi? sorry) and Scotty was looking/feeling a little worse for the wear (thanks to the migraine, the abrupt awakening, and the stressful-for-him drive in not knowing if he was going to possibly be delivering a baby on the side of the highway because the hospital is roughly 140kms from where we live), so I was getting all the paperwork done, etc, and I don't think at first she really knew which one of us we were trying to have admitted! (LOL!)  Anyway, we headed up to the 4th floor of the hospital, and got settled in the pre-assessment room, where they hook you up to the fetal heart rate monitor, and the contraction monitor thingy, and they go over your chart (which I didn't have, since I was supposed to pick it up Friday - like, the 30th - ha!) and/or do whatever they need to do.  Since I didn't have my chart, we had to go through an extensive questionnaire, and while doing so, my contractions finally began - as in, at 2:29, I was fine, and when they started at about 2:30, I couldn't talk.  The nurse was funny; I think she thought I was over-reacting, since it started so quickly and I had been perfectly fine a minute previous, but then she looked at the monitor about 10 minutes later... and her eyes got really big.  (Keep in mind, we just answered the question about how long previous labours/deliveries were - about 1.75 hours for the first one, and 1.5 hours for the second one!)  She tells us that she's going to check me quickly, because I'm starting to freak her out - when the contractions started, they were already off the chart, and they were 3.5 minutes apart.  When she decided I was 5-6cm dilated, she ran out of the room and informed the other nurses that they were moving me to the delivery room NOW... and of course, me being helpful like I am, I reminded her that I never did make it out of the pre-assessment room with the FIRST baby! (lol)  Meanwhile, there were two other women already in labour, that were pretty much abandoned (lol) because I don't waste any time with matters like this!

So... I get moved to the delivery room.  It's around, oh... 3:10 at this point.  For the first time, I'm told that if I want, we can try an epidural - of course, no promises, since we were running out of time, but at least we could try.  (Which impressed me, as with the other two, I was told I didn't have time for any sort of pain killers.  I had the gas to help get through the remainder of the contractions, but that was it.)  Well, of course, I was all for trying, so we did.  They got the test dose into me... and then one of the nurses ran out to the hall to see if the Doc was on his way; upon spotting him walking casually down the hall, she yelled at him that he better get a move on! (lol)  Annnnnnddddd.... after one little push, and then one big push, Miss Sadie was born at 4:00pm.  The nurse was saying afterwards that if I hadn't gotten the test dose of the epidural, Doc wouldn't have made it in time for the delivery!

Yeah... all of you with horror stories related to your labours and/or deliveries, you can hate me.  Heck, I'd even hate me for you! (lol)  Before this, I thought my other two L&Ds were super quick and easy, but this just takes the cake!  I do have to say, though... with all the people who have commented that I'm just 'made for making babies', I'm thankful that we farm grain and not cattle... or else I might find myself put out in the barn with the heifers!  (haaaa!)

Needless to say, I haven't been doing much - readjusting to life with a newborn, and all that... I've been working on a card set for the last two days (thank yous, of course!), and it's going to be another day or two before I'm done, but I'll be sure to post them when I finish.

Laters!
Steph

PS -  Crap.  I forgot what I was going to PS!

From Kleenex Box to Card...

Yeah, sometimes us papercrafters find inspiration in the oddest places.... like this Kleenex box, for example:

(Ok, so it's Puffs, not Kleenex.  Whatever!)

As soon as I saw it, I automatically started thinking of PTI's Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores & Simply Chartreuse, paired with their Turning a New Leaf stamp set & coordinating Die set, and after an hour, this is what came out of it:

Supplies:
Cardstock:  PTI Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, Simply Chartreuse
Patterned Paper:  PTI 2008 Bitty Dot Basics
Stamps:  PTI Turning a New Leaf, Damask Designs
Ink:  PTI Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, Simply Chartreuse, Fresh Snow
Dies:  PTI Double-Ended Banners, Beautiful Blooms II - Collection #1, Turning a New Leaf, Mega Mat Stack 4
Other:  PTI Simply Chartreuse Vintage Button, 1/8" Silk Ribbon

Fun; one of those cards that just makes me smile!  What you can't really tell from the picture is how some of  the die-cut leaves are popped up for some dimension... looks pretty fun in real life, I think.   Where have you been finding your inspiration lately?  Leave me a link in the comments if you've got an oddly-inspired creation to share!

Cute... not that I'm biased or anything... (ha!)

Laters,
Steph

CPS Sketch #254!

Hello!

I just wanted to pop in & share my take on CPS Sketch #254.  I picked up a 12x12 pad of black-on-kraft paper when I was at Hobby Lobby last, and thought it would work well with this sketch.  Then I added some wrinkle ribbon my friend Tanya sent me, as well as a button, some twine & a couple of stick pins from my stash (that I just found the other day when I was rearranging a few bazillion things in my office the other day).  I can honestly say this is the first time I've ever used stick pins on a card!  Finally, I coloured up Bryony (you have to scroll about halfway down the page), fussy cut her out & placed her on the image panel.  I tried something new-to-me & added a bit of RV95 in the deepest shadows of her skin... but you can't really tell... except for on her feet/legs where I screwed up and used RV99 - so she just sort of looks bruised.  Oh well - practice makes perfect, right?

Anyway, here it is:

I kind of love how the bow/button/stick pin combo somewhat resembles a butterfly!

Have a great day,
Steph

Chocolate Mousse Cake

It's my mother-in-law's 70th birthday today... so I figured since my husband decided what she's having for her birthday supper, I'd at least make her a cake I know she'll love!  I used this Chocolate Mousse Cake recipe, and didn't run into any of the problems mentioned in the comments section with the mousse part not setting.  (And I even screwed up and added the salt & vanilla to the egg whites instead of the yolks!)  I had everything put together & ready to go in the fridge at 6pm yesterday, and took it out around 9:30 this morning to add the ganache layer & the walnuts (even though the recipe says it needs to set for 1-2 days, and I wasn't really expecting to be able to do anything else until at least this afternoon, curiosity got the best of me, and I'm glad it did!).  Keep in mind, I'm generally a 'grab a box mix & throw something together' kind of baker (because I never plan this far in advance - lol), so I'm pretty proud of how this turned out:

I added the chocolate covered strawberry to the top, because the cake looked naked without it... but since the top of the strawberry wasn't very pretty (the leaves were all gnarly), I cut them off, hollowed out the top of the berry a little bit, filled it with more chocolate, and sprinkled on some crushed walnuts.  Not exactly what I had in mind, but it certainly seems to do the trick!

Now it's just the hard part left - waiting until after supper this evening to cut into this baby & find out how it tastes!

Laters!
Steph

Rainbows!

So... I was rearranging some things in my office today.  Conclusion:  I'm pretty sure flowers multiply like bunny rabbits.  You know it's bad when I actually seriously considered throwing some of them out! (lol)

I spent the rest of the morning pondering what I was going to do about the ridiculous amount of flowers in my stash... and then I remembered recently seeing THIS l/o on the DoodleBug blog... which reminded of my favourite l/o I've ever seen (which I can't show you because it's on the wall in the LSS and I don't have a photo of it) that puts the Doodlebug rainbow to shame... which reminded me that I've been meaning to make a wall-sized version of my own, minus the actual l/o part, because I'm totally not a scrapbooker... which reminded me that I had this frame laying around that the glass was smashed in (not too sure where my 'before' photo went.  Crap.)...

Which all resulted in a couple hours this afternoon spent doing this (with lots of help from Lily!):

It makes me happy to look at....  Now to decide where to hang it (and then get Mr Jones to do so!)!

Laters,
Steph

CPS Sketch #253!

Well this is pretty exciting - not only did I manage to complete all 15 of the CPS Anniversary sketches, but I was able to play along with this Sunday's sketch, too!  My mother-in-law's birthday is coming up soon, so this worked out just perfectly... even my girls played along!

My card:

Cardstock:  PTI Rustic White, Dark Chocolate
Patterned Paper:  PTI Distressed Dots
Stamps:  PTI Year of Flowers: Collection, PTI Year of Flowers: Violets, PTI Just  The Ticket, PTI Fillable Frames Additions #2
Ink:  PTI Dark Chocolate, PTI Scarlet Jewel, Memento Tuxedo Black
Dies:  PTI Parisian Lace Doily, PTI Fillable Frames #8
Other:  Queen & Co Self-Adhesive Pearls, images coloured with Copics

I stamped the smaller violet cluster from Year of Flowers: Collection all over the Dark Chocolate panel, in Dark Chocolate ink.  The focal violet is popped up for some dimension, and  I went with slightly fancier shapes for the small rectangle & the circle in the sketch.  The only thing that could have made the making of this card any simpler would have been if PTI would come out with dies for their Year of Flowers series of stamps!  (*Hint, hint, PTI Powers-That-Be!*)

Next is Emily's card:

Supplies are mostly the same, with the exception of cardstock colours; Scarlet Jewel & Raspberry Fizz  were used on this one.

Not bad for a 7-year-old!  I think it's cute she had to slip a little teal in there with her pearls, as that's her favourite colour.  She pretty much did everything on her own, with the exception of die-cutting the doily, as it's a pain in the butt to run through (I need to invest in the metal shim; I just haven't gotten around to it yet).  Oh, and she suckered my step-dad into cutting out the flower & leaves for her.  (Which is hilarious, because my step-dad wouldn't have done that for anyone else... it's not very manly to cut out flowers, you know.  LOL!)

Finally, here's Lily's take on the sketch:

Supplies that differ from my card:
Cardstock:  PTI Melon Berry, Berry Sorbet, Rustic White
Stamps:  PTI Fillable Frames Additions #1 & #2
Dies:  PTI Fillable Frames #9
Other:  The Twinery Honeydew Twine, Lime Green Stickles

I must say, I was quite impressed with Lily's offering - considering she's only 2.5!  She chose her own colours, did her own stamping (with the exception of the frame that I inked up for her, the sentiment I inked & lined up, and the flower/leaves that I stamped for her to colour), and chose her own shape for the focal rectangle.  I cut out her flower/leaves, and put the adhesive on the pieces for her, and then she put everything together.  After that, she had to go pick out her own colour for the pearls, and then she decided it was still 'not weady' yet.  She thought it needed some 'stwing', as well as some 'parklies' (aka twine & Stickles), so I added the twine for her where I was instructed to, and helped her add the Stickles to the flower.  She still thinks it needs to be coloured on the inside, but we'll wait until the Stickles are dry before that happens! (lol)

Well, I'm off... Laundry needs folding, and then I need a shower!  (This only having 4 shirts and 4 pairs of pants that fit business kind of sucks - but I can't be bothered to spend more money on maternity clothes that will only be worn for roughly 8 more weeks, when that money could be spent on important things, like stamps!  I'll just suck it up & keep doing lots of laundry - or raiding my hubby's closet!  HA!)

Laters!
Steph

CPS 5th Anniversary Celebrations - Day 15!

CPS Day 15 - Sketch #231:

Cardstock:  PTI Vintage Cream
Patterned Paper:  Echo Park "Country Drive" Collection

This has to be one of the 'scrappiest' cards I've ever made (and one with the fewest supplies!).  Totally loving how easy it is to put cards together out of a collection kit; I made all 4 of these last night in about an hour!

Anyway, that's it - all 15 of the CPS 5th Anniversary Sketches have been completed - YAY!

Have a great day!
Steph