Welcome! It's PaperTrey Ink Release time again, and I'm excited to share some pieces with you that I've been working on over the past few days. If you've followed Nichole's amazing introductions, you already know that there are some pretty special new stamp sets this month.
First up is Through the Trees--I love trees, and I think this is a classic set. Background papers here are the Turning a New Leaf papers. I cut the grass layers from Spring Moss cardstock and stitched them on after brushing them with a bit of Chamomile Distress ink. This card is 5-1/4" square.
Next I have something that was a bit out of my comfort zone, but I had fun with it anyway--a mini album for my son, using Dawn's Top Ten and Top Ten Additions stamp sets. An embarrassingly long time ago (at least a year ago) I had put together a Love word book in which I cut the pages on my Cricut, layering about four sheets of Kraft cardstock glued together for each page base, and some Cosmo Cricket Chemistry papers for the covering. After waiting for a couple of days for this all to dry (with my sofa sitting on top of it to hold it flat), I used a Bind It All to bind the book. Honestly, it is WAYYYYYY faster to just buy a pre-made chipboard words book--yes, it is. And while I'm proud of this one, I'll probably just buy my next book base. ;-}
The Top Ten and Top Ten Additions sets are perfect for scrapbooking applications. The obvious use for a "Love" mini album would have been an album for my husband; but knowing his predilection for privacy, I thought I'd spare him being splashed online this month. Instead I made a book for my nine-year-old, who has no privacy issues whatsoever and won't mind at all having his cute pictures online. . . I came up with the concept for this album one day when I felt like I had corrected my son all day long--yes, it was one of those days, which every parent out there has on occasion. I wanted to let him know that even if Mom was "crabby" and Dad was lecturing, we still love him.
Making it was therapeutic too--I remembered my own Dad saying, "Don't sweat the small stuff," and "It's all small stuff." As I was choosing five adjectives from the Top Ten and Top Ten Additions sets, it occurred to me that not making one's bed, or even kicking one's dirty clothes behind the bathroom door instead of putting them in the hamper six feet away is really "small stuff." Does he need to do both better? Yes. But he's a good kid. And I'm very thankful to be his Mom. Enough babbling.
Next, you know how I love the Button Bits sets; this month's Baby Button Bits fills a great niche, and I have enjoyed so much using it. Here is one of my Baby Button Bits card, and I'll have a few more projects to share using this set in the next couple of weeks. Patterned paper on this card is Sunday from Cosmo Cricket's Girl Friday collection
How about a simple "Dad" card? I used the Turning a New Leaf papers, along with Alli Miles's Daily Designs and Daily Designs Sentiments sets for a simple Father's Day card. I have a baby card made with this set that I'll share another day. I can see the sentiments set being another super-useful set for small tags, just like Mixed Messages and Mega Mixed Messages.
Thanks for visiting, and thanks for your patience this week. I'm head over heels in the middle of CHA work, playing with some new new Cosmo Cricket lines--fun! Be sure to see what the other PaperTrey girls have cooked up for this release. The PaperTrey Ink Gallery is here. Enjoy!