RRRRRoooooaaaarrrrr!

Quick post of a cute boy dino card.  Cricut cut, cuttlebug embossing folder, PTI circle stamps, paper I've had forever, PTI sentiment stamp.

ENJOY!

Kristin

Happy Anniversary to "us"

Today my dh and I celebrate 14 years of marriage.  Striking to me that so many years have passed when I can still clearly remember our wedding day in great detail.  I treasure those details to remind me of the importance of each passing year.

*** Before any of you go, I also wanted to let you know this card also completes the PTI Paperdolls #38 challenge here *** (join us!! We'd love to have you play along!)

Now, back to the regularly scheduled post if you want to keep reading :)...

Also, I have been writing the blog now since 2008 shortly before our 11th anniversary.

I thought I would give you the opportunity to take a peek into our lives by reading some of what I have written about him.  Most blog posts are a bit about the kids or friends, but mostly about the card or scrapbook layout.

However, on our anniversary each year I have taken the opportunity to stop and write down for anyone to see how lucky I am.  In fact, over the last 18 months we have watched several couples we know experience great marital hardships and some of them are now divorced.  He asked me once why I wouldn't ever leave him ...  and here was my answer, "I have been given gifts from God over the years, but I prayed specifically and with purpose from the time I was 14 years old to marry the right man he had for me.  And you?  He put you in front of me on a silver platter one day and said 'Kristin, here he is- the man you prayed for all those years ago.' Well, I will never give up that gift!"

Here is the June 2008 post

Here is the June 2009 post

Here is the June 2010 post (I didn't write much here because we had just entered an extremely difficult time in our family life- our marriage was and is rock solid I just didn't have time to devote to a post- but I still love that card!)

I have had time to really reflect over the past many months on our marriage and I have so enjoyed seeing how richly God has blessed my life with such an amazing man after God's own heart.  

Enjoy!

Kristin

Lovely day

I *love* this card. Everything about it really. I submitted it for the Paper Crafts sketch call last month (or Feb??). Not selected. No idea why. This is the only card I actually think they were wrong in not choosing, lol! Meaning, other cards they didn't pick, it didn't bother me. No matter how hard I worked on them, I just don't have an issue with rejection- mainly because I grow to love my cards soooo much that many times I can't imagine giving them to someone who won't cherish them as much as I love making them!! (so to send it away to some *unknown* person left me a little concerned! ha!)

But, this was a unique and stand out card, in my very humble opinion. PTI Shimmer cardstock with cuttlebug embossing. SJ ink and mat cardstock and SSeries sentiment. The double hearts came from a Stampabilities set (that I made sure could still be gotten too by the masses).

I know I will use this for a precious couple's anniversary (I might even make a duplicate!) but it could be a wedding day card. :)

Enjoy!

Kristin

Goodbye Teacher

Goodbyes are always sooo very hard. Especially when it is your own child saying goodbye to a wonderful teacher. And this year my 7yo son's first grade teacher had to leave unexpectedly after the Christmas break was over.

Can I brag just a little?? This ENTIRE card was his idea/design and execution. I only told him of the cuttlebug folder with dots for the dolphin. Also, he wanted the "sentiment" to be so large I changed "You Are" to U R because it wouldn't have fit otherwise.

This is all Papertrey product because she was THAT good of a teacher, lol! The cartridge we used was Life's a Beach. (I was so glad we had gone to the beach earlier last year because that is the only reason I owned it... when he said her card *had* to have a dolphin I knew LAB had one... otherwise that would have been a VERY expensive card!!).

Enjoy!

Kristin

Beach Bum

I always make matching layouts for my son and daughter when it is some type of family event: Christmas, Easter, and vacations. This beach trip was no different except I used a different sketch. You can see/read about my daughter's layout here. Paper and many embellies are StoryTellers. The rest is PTI.

Enjoy!

Kristin

Cricut & PTI= my favorites!

Yea! I uploaded my pictures and submitted some cards. This one is so pretty (but doesn't pass the "neutral background" requirement. I used the card feature on one of the cartridges and some pretty paper; along with some great PTI products (with some cuttlebug embossing thrown in for good measure!) and I came up with this fun card for a friend's birthday earlier this month. On the vellum envie, I just turned it over and used the "back side" to address it. I learned a couple of years ago that in the US the postal system doesn't really care so I've done this kind of thing before with good results.

Enjoy!
Kristin

My Top 10 Cards of 2010

Here are the details. Enjoy! (SECOND post for today... please SCROLL down to see the other!)

These are my favorite of 2010 (in no particular order... bc that is WAY TOO HARD, :)!)

Christmas Cards 1

Now that Christmas is almost here, I thought I would show a few of the Christmas cards I made every day from now until Saturday! This year I didn't mass produce but made different cards for everyone. Joy is almost a CASE from Kim Hughes. And I would be nowhere on *twine tying* if it weren't for Mish!

Enjoy!
Kristin







Country Wreath:
PP: CTMH Mistletoe
CS: PTI Ripe Avacodo, PTI Kraft
Ink: CTMH Olive, PTI Pure Poppy
Stamps: PTI Wreath for all Seasons
Other: Twine

Gold Wreath:
CS: PTI Pure Poppy, Gold Shimmer, Stamper's Select
Ink: Versamark
Stamps: Wreath for all Seasons
Other: PP buttons, ribbon, Gold Embossing Powder, Red Stickles

Joy:
Ink: PTI Enchanted Evening, Pure Poppy, CTMH Olive
CS: Enchanted Evening, White Shimmer, Pure Poppy
Stamps: PTI Background Basics: Christmas
Other: EE ribbon, Silver Stickles (Cricut cuts for "Joy" & "Star"; Cuttlebug swiss dots)

Retirement Congrats!

Quick post... This was for my close friend's mom who retired in October. She is such a neat lady and I LOVE that she and her daughter (and now her grandaughter- who I love dearly and have gotten to watch her grow up) are all SO alike!! I am blessed to have them in my life for sure. This was an almost CASED card of Nichole Heady from PTI. I used Soft Stone and True Black cs and Smokey Shadow ink. CTMH flower stamp set, handcut the circle centers and used glossy accents. SU! sentiment stamp set with a CTMH flower rhinestone. I did cuttlebug the black cs too.

Enjoy!

Kristin

TTT: Male bday

Masculine birthdays are sooooo hard! But, I'm finally amassing enough "supplies" and techniques that they don't make me quiver and feel sick to my stomach anymore. I just a tad nervous before I begin and need to pray a bit (hehe). Seriously, the more I do the easier it seems to be. This was for our best friend's birthday a couple of months ago. Cuttlebugged the top, lots of distressing, "boy" pattern paper (pp) at the bottom, PTI stamp, ink, and cs.

Enjoy!

Kristin

TT: Baby anyone??

I made up these cards about 2 months ago and am finally uploading them here! Saw the idea on one of the PTI DT blogs, using Tiny Treats: Valentine and loved it so much I had to CASE it with my own version! The largers panels are cut from the cricut and the sentiments are from SU!

enjoy!

Kristin

Celebrate the experiment

The lighting is bad again... hmmm. This was an experiment that worked- got to love it! Spring Moss, Dark Chocolate, and Pure Poppy colors (vintage cream as a base) work really well together. I used Lacy Labels cricut cart for the image panel and embossed the front of the card.

Enjoy!

Kristin

Chickadee card

I wanted to make my good friend and business partner a fun card (plus I'd gotten my hands on a new *to me* embossing folder). I pulled out PTI's Mat Stack 3 and Everyday Button Bits stamp set. A little Sweet Blush cs and Plum Pudding cs coordinated so well with this (I think) Basic Grey pp.

Just a fun card for a great friend!

Enjoy!

Kristin

Out with Old and In with the New

Just as I finished up my ds's Kindergarten class pic, it was time to make his 1st day of school card for his First Grade Teacher. I made it in the shape of a file folder using my cricut and a cut file from Okie. I sued PTI: School Time and STAdditions. Plus, that apple on the front has been in my possesion now for 10 years! Crazy. I also used the spiral notebook die and stamped it to look like a regular sheet of paper. On his K layout I made his backpack more 3D and used one of the school pics of him to put more of the focus on him. The "all I ever needed..." comes from CTMH School Zone.

Enjoy!

Kristin

Plum Pudding goodness

I can't remember where I got the idea for this card, but I always try to create a super classy card for my stepmother's birthday each year. It needs to meet certain criteria for me. I might make 3 or 4 before I make the card I'm going to send her. What was so fantastic about this card was how easy it came together. PTI Plum Pudding and Stamper's Select White. Cuttlebugged the large white panel. Then, I used PTI's Simply Stationary stamp set for the sentiment/image circle panel. Finally, I used a CTMH Say It in Style sentiment in the center with PTI PP ink. On the inside I used the individual image that matches the circle image for the four corners (that's why I LOVE PTI) and a PTI Signature Greeting sentiment. As one more "extra", I put those same images on the envie... FUN!

Enjoy!

Kristin

Anniversary card

Since lots of weddings happen in May and June that means lots of anniversaries in future years! This is one of my fave color combos. Used another cuttlebug folder I don't use often, but I think is really effective. Lots of pretty stamping swirls on the vanilla cs.

Enjoy!

Kristin

Dad's Day Cards

These are my collection of "dad's day" cards that were sent/given this year. My husband and our two dads are great! Hopefully you see a theme here with trees- they offer us deep roots, support, shelter, and strength. We are pretty blessed!

Enjoy!

Kristin