WhoIsTracy? Blog

I hope your weekend is going well friends! I was stuck at work yesterday for almost a full day. And I thought I was literally going to get stuck there as we got over a foot of snow while I was there. Luckily, my little car was able to get out of the unplowed lot and make my way home. So I cooked a big dinner and spent the night snuggled up with my husband watching a movie. Today, I managed to squeeze in some crafty time!

I decided to play along in the challenge over on Friday Sketchers. My card base is PTI kraft. All of my decorative paper is all from My Mind's Eye Be Loved collection. I love how it's bright and fun enough so it doesn't have to be used just for Valentine's day.

I faux-stitched the background panels using my paper piercer and Copic Multiliner. The vellum layer was cut using my Fiskars cloud decorative edge scissors. Then I used the Ecstasy Large Corners and Borders piercing template and vellum piercing tool to pierce the border about an inch up from the bottom.



My image is fromSchlosser Designs Hey Cupcake set. I stamped the cupcake liner in Palette Belle Rose ink, the cupcake itself in Palette Burnt Umber ink. The sentiment was curled along my acrylic block and stamped in Palette Noir ink. I used my oval nestabilities to cut out my image and popped the entire thing up on dimensionals for more interest.

To finish my card off I used my Copic Spica gold glitter pen to color in the candle for a little extra sparkle.

Don't forget that the Card Patterns blog hop is in full swing already! Be sure to head on over to the blog to see which designers are hosting each day. There are lots of great prizes to be had, and as always this week there is a chance to be our guest designer for playing along with the sketch.

Birthday Ruffle Recipe
Cardstock: PTI kraft, pure poppy
Decorative Paper: MME Be Loved collection
Stamps: Schlosser Designs Hey Cupcake
Ink: Palette Noir, Burnt Umber, Belle Rose
Accessories: Copic multiliner, paper piercer, Copic Spica gold glitter pen, Ecstasy Large Corners and Borders piercing template, vellum piercing tool, Fiskars cloud decorative edge scissors

Just a quick little post for you this morning. Work is a nightmare this week and I'm rushing off to put out another fire, or try to at least. With computers you never know!

I decided to play along with this week's Mojo Monday sketch challenge since it's been ages since I had time.

My base is PTI white. My card is only 4.25" square. The decorate paper- well, maybe you can help me? Erin included it with my welcome package and I'm not sure who or what it is! Stamping up? Some other brand? I thought it was cute and decided to dig in even though I don't know the names, so I hope you'll forgive me.

I faux-stitched the background with my paper piercer and Copic Multiliner. I seem to be addicted to this technique again lately. {wink}



My focal panel comes from Schlosser Designs Hey Cupcake set. I combined a few of the words to make up my own sentiment. I love how you can do that with this set. Erin was a genius when she designed it! I stamped the sentiments in Palette Noir ink. Then stamped the adorable little cherry in PTI pure poppy ink. I stamped a second cherry, cut it out, and popped it up on dimensionals for more interest.

I cut the entire image panel out using my labels one nestabilities. Then I went back with my Copic Spica red glitter pen and outlined the cherry for some extra sparkle. To finish the card off I added some red metallic string and a trio of dots to the upper-right corner of my card using my spica pen.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Cherry Day Recipe
Cardstock: PTI white
Decorative Paper: Unknown
Stamps: Schlosser Designs Hey Cupcake
Ink: Palette Noir; PTI pure poppy
Accessories: Copic multiliner, paper piercer, labels one nestabilities, Copic Spica red glitter pen, red metallic string

I loved this color combination from last week so much that I decided to use it again on today's card. And when I saw the Sweet Sunday Sketch I just knew I had to play along!

My base is PTI white. The decorative paper is all My Mind's Eye Whirlybird "Sunshine Girl" Soaring Stripes. I cut strips one inch thick and alternated between the stripes and polka dots on the reverse side. I faux-stitched the edge using my paper piercer and Copic Multiliner.



My image comes from Schlosser Designs Hey Cupcake set. I stamped the cupcake liner in Palette Reflection Blue ink, then used Palette Boudoir Blush ink for the frosting. My sentiment is from the same stamp set, but I bent it slightly on my acrylic block to form a semi-circle, and stamped it in Palette Noir ink.

I cut the frosting out using detail scissors and popped it up on dimensionals for more interest. The entire image was cut out using circle nestabilities. I finished the card off with a piece of black herringbone twill ribbon which Kate just got in the store last week! This twill has a fabulous feel to it and ties like a dream. [I have a feeling this is going to be my new go-to black ribbon.]

You're Sweet Recipe
Cardstock: PTI white, new leaf
Decorative Paper: MME Whirlybird "Sunshine Girl" Soaring Stripes
Stamps: Schlosser Designs Hey Cupcake
Ink: Palette Noir, Boudoir Blush, Reflection Blue
Accessories: Copic multiliner, paper piercer, circle nestabilities, black herringbone twill ribbon

Good morning! It's a bright-and-early post from me today because I'm taking part in the first ever Waltzingmouse Stamps customer blog hop! If you didn't hop over from Stephanie's blog then make sure you go to Clare's blog to catch the customer blog hop from the beginning!



The hop is designed around the theme of spring. So I pulled out my Sewing Box Hugs set and stamped the little bird in Palette Burnt Umber ink onto PTI kraft and spring rain cardstock. I cut the little layers out and mounted them on dimensionals for interest.



I made a tiny little quilt underneath my bird to go along with the sewing them. I used scraps from My Mind's Eye Play Picnic Basket and October Afternoon. I used my Copic Multiliner to add tiny dots around the edge of my mini quilt and to the top right and left corners of my card base.

My sentiment is from the same set, Sewing Box Hugs stamped in Palette Burnt Umber ink onto a scrap of PTI vintage cream cardstock.

The layout from my card comes from Clean-and-Simple's FTL #79.

Your next stop on the hop is the wonderful and oh-so-talented Carly Robertson.

Sew Bird Recipe
Cardstock: PTI kraft, vintage cream, spring rain
Decorative Paper: MME Play Picnic Basket, October Afternoon
Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps Sewing Box Hugs
Ink: Palette Burnt Umber
Accessories: Copic multiliner

Happy Friday friends!

Today brings another round of challenges over on Crop Suey. This week's challenge is collections. I hope you'll stop by and see what everyone created!

I have quite a few collections, but the two that stuck out most to me were my fabric and flower collections. My fabric collection because I can hardly open my closet without noticing the piles and piles of fabric I have in there these days. Even my husband has commented on what I'm planning on doing with it all. I had high hopes of starting to quilt but as the years pass I wonder if it will ever happen? Paper quilts on my cards seem to be the closest I come, so in honor I made yet another paper quilt. {wink}

My card base is PTI dark chocolate cut and folded to 4.25" square. The decorative paper is all from Cosmo Cricket's Earth Love collection. I cut little 1" squares put four together to get a 2" square section, then put four squares on my card with a bit of space in between for my design. Make sense?



The image from my card comes from Unity's August kit of the month stamped in Palette Burnt Umber ink. I used some Eclipse masking tape to make a frame around my square before stamping and sponging on some ink. I think it created a nice effect.

To finish the card off I added a little white rose from my stash that I aged with a bit of ink before adhering to my card. Then I went back with my Copic Multiliner and added tiny dots around my little quilt sections to make them more cohesive. I think it really brings the whole card together.

The layout for my card comes from the sketch over on EBTKS.

I mentioned earlier that my second collection was my flower collection. Through the years I seem to have amassed quite a collection of native and drought-tolerant flowers and plants for my garden. If you're a regular reader of my blog you'll also know that I'm a big supporter of responsible gardening.

While I love to have a beautiful yard just as much as the next person, I think that it's more important for me to go about it in a manner that will create little to no negative impact on the environment. What that means is that I use no chemicals in my gardens whatsoever. That means no chemicals or fertilizers on my lawn or flowers, just 100% compost and natural additives.

I have a drip irrigation system in half of my garden that I installed myself for less than $50. This year I will be expanding that to another bed so that roughly 2/3 of my gardens will be watered by drip irrigation meaning practically no evaporation when watering. I water early in the morning (between 6 and 8am) only when absolutely necessary. I also plant native and drought-tolerant plants in my garden and don't water my lawn. I can't stress that enough. It breaks my heart to see people waste water on their lawns in this day and age.

There are many more things you can do to become a responsible gardener, these are just a start. I encourage you all to look into composting, watering more responsibly, planting native or drought-tolerant plants, and letting your lawns grow longer in the summer! Every little bit you do helps the environment ten fold.

Flower Quilt Recipe
Cardstock: PTI dark chocolate, vintage cream
Decorative Paper: Cosmo Cricket Earth Love
Stamps: Unity August kotm
Ink: Palette Burnt Umber
Accessories: Copic multiliner, Eclipse masking tape, white rose

I just finished baking this chocolate cake this morning. And let me tell you- my house smells heavenly. I really want to eat a slice of it for breakfast. But that would be bad, right?

We're going to a little dinner party tonight and I'm in charge of dessert. Tasty Kitchen is quickly becoming my favourite place on the web for recipes. Lots of fellow foodies on there sharing some fantastic recipes. Not all of them are super involved, either. This cake recipe, for instance- it started with a box cake mix. Love that!

Santa brought me a KitchenAid mixer for Christmas and this was the first chance I've had to use it since. I didn't really need one big enough to make dough for thirteen dozen cookies at once, but I guess now I can quit my job and open a bakery. {wink}



Oh, and in other news- in case you haven't heard- i {heart} papers is now selling Copic Sketch Markers! Kate made the decision while at CHA in January and her shipment just arrived yesterday. You can find the reasoning behind why Kate is carrying the Sketch instead of the other kinds of Copics here on her blog.

I'm off to work. Lots going on here these days. And in case you were wondering- because I've gotten some emails (which is so cool by the way)- yes, I am working on my next stamp set. I was set back a little with all of my health problems. But I'm working on the set and Kate and I will let you all know when the set is coming out.