Friday, January 25, 2013

PTI January Blog Hop - Black Backgrounds


This month's PTI Blog Hop challenge is to use black for a project background.  Black looks stunning under pops of color or layered with white.  If you would like to check things out for yourself, you can find out all about it here.

I recently had the time to try out Besty Veldman's great tutorial to achieve a chalkboard art look with our stamps.  It was so much fun, that I knew I wanted to try it out again.  What better subject for a chalkboard-look project than a card for my DD's awesome teacher!  As a bonus - I'll have that end-of-the-year thank you all done and ready to go.  :)



When PTI came out with their Teach & Inspire set, I knew it would go straight into my cart!  The sentiment included is the motto for my DD's school.  I LOVE that!

Here's a close-up of that great chalkboard-look technique in action:



And the inside sentiment:



Other than the twine, thread, white pencil, Copic markers, and Versamark ink, all supplies are from PTI.

Thanks ever so much for stopping by!


Friday, January 18, 2013

A Little Teacher Love

Hello!  I decided to participate in a couple of challenges this week.  First off is Waltzingmouse Blog Party.  I've never participated before, but thought this month's challenge was too sweet to pass up!  The theme is LOVE and the challenge was to make a project using WMS stamps that showcase your idea of love.  If you would like to check it out for yourself, you can find all the details here.


The second challenge is Papertrey Ink's Make-It-Monday.  With tips from Dawn McVey, she shows us ways to package up our projects that won't fit the standard A2 envelope.  It's PTI's 100th MIM, so if you would like to check it out, you can find the details here.

For this challenge, my idea of love is a little gift for my DD's teacher.  What better way to show your love for your teacher than with a little gift of health and well-being!  :)  With all those flu germs spreading like crazy, I decided to put an idea from Erin Lincoln to good use and make my DD's teacher a hand sanitizer cozy.  With a little help from my mom (and the internet), she taught me how to crochet ... well, just enough to learn how to make this cozy!  haha!  



I put my stitching skills to test (they could use a little practice) on decorating my felt cutouts.  My DD's teacher's favorite colors are black, red, and white, so that was my color palette.  Perfect for a Valentine's gift, no?

I couldn't give a gift without wrapping it up just a little special, right?  hehe



I used Betsy Veldman's great instructions for getting the chalkboard look to make a super cute tag.  I love how it turned out!

Wrap it all up in a glassine bag and we have ourselves a sweet little handmade gift:


I sure do hope she likes it.  :)

Stamps:  WMS Fancy Flourishes and Compact Sentiment
Dies:  PTI Notched Flowers, Lovely Layers, Limitless Layers Hearts, and Half & Half.
Cardstock:  PTI Stampers Select White, PTI Black 

Thanks ever so much for stopping by!

Sunday, January 6, 2013

PTI Make It Monday #98: Chalkboard Techinque

This week Papertrey Ink has a tutorial and challenge hosted by Betsy Veldman. She has shown us a technique to create an amazing chalkboard look on our projects.  If you would like to check it out for yourself, you can find all the info here.

I decided to change my focus this year and get back to scrapbooking.  To do this I will be utilizing the Project Life pocket pages.  So, if I can stick to the plan, you should be seeing fewer cards and many more PL pocket inserts on the blog this year!

I used Betsy's awesome technique to make my first album insert:




FYI - I found that my kids' crayola white pencil didn't do the job.  I had to dig into my stash of art supplies from my high school years to get a Berol brand and it worked great!  Bonus - I had two white pencils in that stash!

Supplies:  Versamark ink, white colored pencil, Studio Calico stamp set, and all the rest of the supplies are from PTI.

Thanks ever so much for stopping by!