PTI Post-Release Wrap-Up!

I wanted to show you one of my favorite discoveries from this month's release. It all started because I went off Coke. {Coca Cola, people... duh.} Cold turkey. {Sigh.} I still miss it. Obviously, I'm still in withdrawal. Especially when I'm making some projects on a Sunday afternoon and I'm starting to get that it's-after-lunch-and-all-is-getting-quiet-and-I-could-really-use-a-pick-me-up-but-I-can't-have-my-beloved-ice-cold-Coke-because-I-went-off-of-it-and-why-in-the-world-did-I-do-that-again? feeling. {But I digress.} Enter tea. The hotter sibling of iced tea, which is pretty much a stable in Texas-land. I never liked the stuff. Sort of reminded me of dirty water both in appearance and taste. {The hot stuff, that is. It is illegal to dislike the cold stuff when you live here and now that I have cured my slight speeding habit by having children who can read the speed limit signs and ask me if I'm speeding, I am quite the law abiding citizen.} And then I went to Africa. Where they would bring me and my roommate {shout out to Emily :) } biscuits and hot tea with cream and sugar every morning while waking us up with a happy "Jambo!" (hello). And now... maybe it's because I'm off Coke... or maybe it's because it's winter and I don't deal well with gray skies or temperatures under 80... or maybe it's because it reminds me of Africa and sleeping in a tented building off of a river where I watched hippos swim right by my front porch... I have finally discovered my love for hot tea. {Long story, right?! Here's the point.} Sooooo... when I discovered that this month's release includes two of the *perfect* items for making a quickie little card that includes a tea bag... well... I made this...

and if any of you wants to send one to me the next time I am sick... well... I would totally take you up on that. :) I mean look... that little Lunchbox Note die was totally meant to live a second life as a tea bag holder. It. Works. Perfectly. I'm not gonna lie... I was totally excited about the discovery. I mean... I know it's not like discovering you know... a tyrannosaurus rex fossil... or the cure for the common cold... or the Holy Grail... but still. Totally happy. And then... to top it all off... the Mat Stack 3 stamps fit. right. in. it. DUDE. Seriously. This little pick me up card is practically done for you. Just add a tea bag and ta-da! Done. I love it when things work together like that :) Next up... a totally quick and easy project using the new Mat Stack 5 die. I die cut a scrap of piece of cardstock that was a little bit bigger than my 3/5 x 5" card and taped it to the front of my card. Then I spritzed a few ink mists over it. {I am impatiet, so I went ahead and dried that with a heat gun. If you would like to practice your patience here and let it dry by yourself, be my guest.} I stamped one of the Year of Flowers: Carnations images in the misted area before I pulled the mask off. Love the mix of colors there. The sentiment is from Inside & Out: Birthday but it's actually just one image. It was totally easy to just ink up one part at a time and stamp them separately. I used a little misted scrap to stamp the sentiment on for the inside. I like finishing them out like this... sweet and simple but still finished looking. Totally love the Simple Sentiments set. I have some ideas in mind for highlihting some of the smaller words in each sentiment, so I'll be bringing those to you, soon. For this one, I wanted it to have a more modern feel, so I randomly stamped the senitment in gray along the bottom of the card and stamped one in black for that dark pop. One stamped carnation in Summer Sun adds a bit of color... Large stamps make the best quick and easy cards, right? I love when they take up a nice chunk of space so that the rest of the card has lots of pretty white space. Be sure to click on the pictures for a bigger version. And, finally... I hope you like this last one as much as I do! I think I have a bit of a sentimental attachment, though. The Very Hungry Caterpillar was one of my most favorite books as a kid. Remember that one? It shows a little caterpillar and all that he eats as he grows up into a butterfly. The book has holes punched in the pages where the caterpillar eats through each item. I remember running my fingers over the pages and tracing the path of holes as my mom would read it to me. I bought our first kiddo a copy and gave it to him during his first Christmas with us, so now it's a favorite with all of us. I still enjoy because the story is a classic... it's still engaging and the artwork... I still love looking at it after all these years. {I taught all the kiddos to run their fingers over the pages as we read it, too.} Needless to say, we give copies away as baby and little kiddo gifts all the time. So when I saw the new Way to Go, Kiddo! set I totally wanted to do a little riff on the The Very Hungry Caterpillar! I stuck two of the Tag Sale #3 die cuts together to make a tag with holes at both ends. I thought the leaves from Turning a New Leaf made the *perfect* little lunch for my very hungry caterpiller. My hole punch got a little snack with this project, too :) To make the caterpillar sit right on the leaf, I curved him a bit as I stuck him onto the block. I held the block over the leaf stamp as I was arranging the caterpillar image, so it was super simple to make sure the two would work together. I wanted to make sure the caterpillar image stood out from the leaves so I stamped him on the kraft tags, then I stamped him again in white. I colored him very simply with some ink and a waterbrush and then trimmed him out and stuck him right on. Super simple. And I'm not gonna lie... my excitement was a bit on the overboard side when I saw this sentiment that's included in the set. It's just perfect. I use glassine bags for a ton of things other than just putting something in them, so this time I used one to wrap around the book and make the tag wrap really stand out. A little saddle stitch ribbon holds it all together. I can't wait to send this off for our next birthday party! It's a project that makes me happy :) Well... seeing as how I just capped off PTI release week by spending the last 2 days chaperoning a retreat for a group of senior girls... I think it's time for a nap! Apparently I can still hold my own when it comes to late night (who are we kidding here? That should really say "early morning") talks. Good times, good times. Later, friends! {Warm Healing Touch} tea bag card Stamps - Healing Touch, Mat Stack 3 Collection CS - Rustic Cream, Terracotta Tile Ink - Vintage Cream, Dark Chocolate, Tea Dye Duo Die - Lunchbox Note Impression Plate - Woodgrain Ribbon - Aqua Mist Felt - Fine Linen {Today Take Time} card Stamps: Year of Flowers: Carnations, Inside & Out: Birthday CS - White Ink - Ocean Tides, Dark Chocolate Spray Mists - Tattered Angels {Just Because} card Stamps - Simple Sentiments CS - Soft Stone Ink - True Black, Summer Sunrise {#1 in My Book} wrap Stamps - Way to Go, Kiddo; Turning a New Leaf CS - Kraft, White, Harvest Gold Ink - New Leaf, Pure Poppy, True Black Ribbon - Pure Poppy Die - Tag Sale #3 Other - glassine bag, aqua brush