Papertrey Projects!

I'm back. From the brink of death. Not really. Not even close, really. But it sorta felt like it. Let's play a game. It's called "I was so sick that..." I was so sick that I missed the *entire* record-breaking cold front that happened in the South. As in, it was 55° last Wednesday before I got sick, the wind chill got down to ZERO degrees while I was sick, but when I walked outside for the first time again, lo and behold... 55°. (thankfully) I was so sick that when I did that whole walking outside again for the first time, I realized our Christmas wreath was still up. It was the 12th. That is not good. I was so sick that I watched Noelle figure out the pertinent difference between crawling backward and crawling forward... from the couch. (That one was a bit painful.) I was so sick that I learned that 30-something is not too old to have your Mom & Dad come take care of you. And do that whole magic-thermometer-hand-to-the-forehead thingy. (Funny story... my dad and I had a battle of the magic-thermometer-hands. His said I had a fever. Mine did not. Mine is obviously more accurate because I have 3 children and he only has 2.) I was so sick that I did not make anything for 9 complete days. Thank goodness that's over. Whew. Honestly, sitting back down to work after so long was daunting. Scary, even. It seemed I had lost every ounce of creativity that I ever possessed. Seriously. A small freak out *may* have ensued. Luckily, my mom rescued me again and took some (meaning all) of my lovely (meaning mischevious) children off of my hands so I could dig myself out of the giant hole I was in. And my friends rescued me again by praying for me and for the return of some semblance of creativity. Seriously. (Because there's nothin' like complete and utter helplessness to help me remember where my Help comes from.) And now I get to show you what I was (happily) able to make for January's Papertrey Ink release. Sigh. It's good to make again.

If you have read this post or this post, then you know of my love of the name Noelle and, hence, the phrase "Joyeux Noel." So it should come as no surprise that upon seeing that phrase in the Daily Designs Sentiments set, I immediately set to making a holiday card in January.

Cause it's never too early to start on the 2010 Christmas card design, right?

I went for a clean and simple look for this one. Glittering the circles is a simple way to take a quick and easy holiday card to the next level and give it a bit of pow. I stamped the snowflake circle (Spring Moss, Aqua Mist, and Ocean Tides), then stamped them again in VersaMark and used some adhesive embossing powder (Heat & Stick powder by Stampin Up) to adhere the glitter. I actually did not have to use VersaMark on the Aqua Mist because I have the new formula ink in that color (by the way, it's awesome!) so the embossing powder stuck right to it. Nifty.

Ok, this next one is a bit wacky.

I totally had to do it, though. See the sentiment? The sweet scent of powder?

It spoke to me. And it said "You should totally try using sprinkling that adhesive embossing powder with baby powder and see what happens!"

And so I did.

And it stuck.

Nifty again!

I stamped it in Fresh Snow and just sprinkled the Heat & Stick right onto the image. Heated it, sprinkled it with the good ol' Johnson's Baby Powder, and voila! A sweet baby card with the actual sweet scent of powder.

I kid you not.

It ends up with an embossed look, but matte instead of shiny. I'm diggin' it.

Since it's a bit of a funky technique, I decided to go a bit funky with the card as opposed to traditional. I paired the sentiment from Inside & Out: Baby with another circle image from Daily Designs and a few images from Polka Dot Basics II. I went a little funky with the colors, too (Kraft, Raspberry Fizz, New Leaf, and Aqua Mist) and did something a bit different with the ribbon. Fun stuff.

And now... my favorite. I can't help it. It just is. I saw the tree trunk image from Through the Trees and knew that I wanted to try to pull off this funky, whimsical button tree. And I *love* the sentiments in Inside & Out: Baby. It is just packed with lovely sayings and sweet little phrases. And again, one just jumped out at me... "dream of possibilities." It just seemed like it was made for my funny little impossible tree, know what I mean? Love it. But I couldn't stop there. I was still in love with my little tree. So I made another. A bit smaller. And I made one of the buttons a little birdhouse. For the birdie from Daily Designs. (Which is a stamp that will be well used by me, I can assure you.) See? He's all at home in his new little neighborhood. Sweet. Ahh. I love this release. It was really hard for me to stop. But I had to. But not for long. There will be more. Because I think I could make a card for nearly everything with that new Daily Designs and Daily Designs Sentiments set. Not to mention all of the super elegant or, on the flip side, super funky designs calling my name with Through the Trees. More to come! Later, friends! {Joyeux Noel} card Stamps - Daily Designs, Daily Designs Sentiments Cardstock - Stamper's Select White Ink - Spring Moss, Aqua Mist, Ocean Tides, VersaMark Embellishments - Prisma Glitter, Rhinestones {Sweet Scent of Powder} card Stamps - Inside & Out: Baby, Daily Designs, Polka Dot Basics II Cardstock - Kraft, Raspberry Fizz, New Leaf, Aqua Mist Ink - Fresh Snow, Raspberry Fizz Ribbon - Aqua Mist Swiss Dots Vintage Buttons {Dream of Possibilities} card Stamps - Through the Trees, Inside & Out: Baby Cardstock - Stamper's Select White Ink - Dark Chocolate Ribbon - New Leaf Swiss Dots Vintage Buttons {Welcome to the Neighborhood} card Stamps - Through the Trees, Daily Designs Sentiments, Daily Designs Cardstock - Stamper's Select White Ink - Dark Chocolate, Aqua Mist Vintage Buttons