Father Knows Best for Mother's Day

Today is one busy day! My daughter Macey has her 2nd grade music program. I also have doctor appointments for 3 of my kids as well as Tee Ball. In between all of this is the usual taxi driving and making meals. But before the madness starts, I thought I would share a quick card I made last night.

I have been wanting to use my Cosmo Cricket Dutch Girl paper for about a year now! Last night I finally pulled it out and coupled it with my latest stamp set from Papertrey Ink: Father Knows Best. It turned out so soft and pretty that I think I just may use this as a Mother's Day card.

Other materials used: Cranberry cardstock, Twilight organza ribbon, silver brads, Cranberry ink, Garden Green ink, and Bamboo ink (All from Close To My Heart)

Everyone have a great day!

-Alisha

Spending My Time in the Garden of LIfe!

Well it has been a while since I last posted. I have been tucked away in my crafting room playing with my Papertrey Ink stamps! I am loving the new "Garden of Life" set. It is so VERSATILE! I can not create as fast as ideas come into my head! Mostly I have been posting pictures of my newest creations over at Papertrey Inks forum for their Guest Star Stamper contest.... So everything is TOP SECRET! Just kidding....

I have neglected my blog so I am going to post one of the cards that I submitted for the Guest Star Stamper contest. It is nothing spectacular. But I loved how it turned out!

Here it is:

The patterned paper was the inspiration for this card! I just loved the color scheme. It is Tres Jolie paper from My Minds Eye. The Chocolate cardstock and Sunflower brad are from Close To My Heart as well as all of the inks (Chocolate, Cocoa, Ocean and Autumn Terracotta). The ribbon is Saddle Stitched Summer Sunrise from Papertrey Ink. And of course the stamps used were Garden of Life and Borders and Corners: Square by Papertrey Ink.

As for my other creations using Garden of Life.... Well, you all will have to wait. I will unveil them here on my blog the day of Papertrey's new product release (May 15th). I will be posting step by step tutorials for at least 2 of them, possibly 3... so check back in!

Meanwhile I am working on a fun card/project for my children's end of the year gift for their teachers. I should have it posted in the next day or so. So, hop on over in the next few days.

Have a great day!

-Alisha

Having Fun with PTI!

I finally got my Papertrey Ink products on Saturday! That is not to say that Papertrey Ink was slow in shipping.... more that I was so excited to get the new stuff that I was growing VERY impatient! So my blog has been silent for a while because I have been using my spare time to PLAY!!!!

I have so many little projects underway right now.(using my new PTI stuff of course!) A few finished and several that are still under construction! Well today I found my perfect excuse to post something new. I went to Nicole Heady's Blog and found a new post with a card she created layering stamped images to create her own background paper.... Funny... because that is exactly what I have been doing with the products I just received... In fact I had already submitted a card to her Guest Star Stamper file at Papertrey Ink (can't share that one yet...) So after seeing her card and a challenge to create something with our own "homemade" background paper, I felt inspired and ran upstairs to create this:

I started by stamping the large solid polka dots from "Polka Dot Basics" onto white cardstock with the new Summer Sunrise ink. I then added a flower in between each dot using one of the flowers from "Garden of Life" and Lemon Tart ink. The little pink dot was done using the smallest solid dot from the "Polka Dot Basics" set and Berry Sorbet ink. The sentiment is from "Garden of Life" and is stamped in White Daisy from Close To My Heart. Other products used: Berry Sorbet cardstock, Summer Sunrise satin ribbon, a chipboard flower (source unknown) and a pink button (CTMH). All products were from Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.

I loved how cheery this card turned out. I must say how happy I have been with all of the supplies I have ordered from Papertrey Ink. If you haven't yet, you must check them out!

Hope everyone enjoyed this little card!

Smiles,

Alisha

Creatively Organized

I made myself a planner to fit my needs in the beginning of the year. I have absolutely loved having it! Well I wanted to do something special for my friend Erin and so I made one for her and sent it about 2 months B.C. (before camera). So I didn't get a chance to take pics of hers. If you would like to take a look, she graciously posted pictures of it on her blog: http://inkysmiles.blogspot.com/
The post is titled: Life Is Orderly.


But for now, check out the planner I made for my friend Michelle today. She picked out the yummy American Crafts paper and with such great paper to work with, how could I mess up?


Here is the front. In each of my planners, I have added a clear vinyl layer to the front and back in order to keep it functional and beautiful. The vinyl I use is the clear type that is available at Walmart by the yard (super cheap!). It is used for table clothes and I just use my cutting mat, blade guide and rotary trimmer from my quilting supplies to cut it precisely.


The cover is held in place by the large red brads and the binding. My planner still looks great after 3 months of abuse!





The entire planner is 8.5" x 8.5". I bound it using the Bind It All with white 3/4" wires. Inside there are weekly planner pages and monthly calendar pages. Each monthly calendar page is matted on colored cardstock with one monthly calendar on each side. I then attached some photohangers (from Close To My Heart) with ribbon so that the monthly calendar could be flipped to quickly. The little white clip at the top is from Making Memories and is clipped to the current week to make it easy to find.

At the back of the planner there are two pockets for keeping miscellaneous notes, receipts or loose paper. I made these by cutting a 12"x12" piece of Cardstock down to 8.5"x12" and scoring the 12" side at 8.5" and folding the flap over.










Well I think that is about all of the information, feel free to post questions. I forgot to take a picture of the monthly calendar part but you can find it at Erin Grotegut's blog. A link can be found within this post or to the right side of my blog.



Thanks everyone for looking! I'll be back with more goodies later!

-Alisha

Up late partying with Papertrey Ink

I was up way past my bedtime last night! I was at the party of the month: Papertrey's monthly New Product Release Party! I think I'm a bit exhausted this morning! I hopped into bed a little after midnight, but it was worth it! I spent some time sharing the excitement with the other PI addicts out there and then wandered over to the gallery and checked out all of the great projects everyone did for the April Guest Star Stamper contest. There were some really exceptional things done! I then placed an order for some things I just HAD to have! I am not so tired because I went to bed so late, but when I hopped into bed, my mind was FLOODED with ideas for my new products!

Funny, I haven't even gotten my new products yet, but I have about 4 projects underway (in my mind!) Well I guess I will have to wait to share what is rattling around in my head... so meantime I will post the remainder of the things I submitted for the Guest Star Stamper Contest at Papertrey Ink!

Here is the first card I made. It was made with Papertrey's Boxes, Bags and Tags set. I absolutely love the "interlocking" versatility of the images in this set! The grapevine type weave in the background was made with one circular stamp interlocked with itself. The colors are Aquamist and Spring Moss. The bow was made using a combination of the Everyday Blessings patterned paper and two strips of white organza ribbon. There is layer of vellum over the background to soften it. All products are from Papertrey Ink except the brads, organza ribbon and vellum.

The next card was made using the same set: Boxes, Bags and Tags. I had so much fun exploring (with stamp in hand) how these images could interlock! The background for this card was made with the large flower and snowflake type image. The snowflake image fit perfectly between the petals of the large flower and I was able to create a hexagon tpye pattern. I added the pink center to the flower by using the small flower image. The pattern just seem to need something more... so I used the looped rounded square image that you see in the focal point and stamped around the large flower in Spring Moss. Colors used were Spring Moss, Sweet Blush (from Papertrey Ink) and Chocolate (Close To My Heart).

Okay, last one! This was a little birthday card with a gift card holder inside! Let's start with the front of the card. Again, I loved playing around with the different images to see how they interlocked. But this card was made using the "It's A Celebration" set. The little triangles are the banner image from that set! The colors are Spring Moss, Berry Sorbet, and Sweet Blush.

Now for the inside! I made a little popup present. Originally I was just going to pop up the stamped "present" image from the "It's A Celebration" set. But then I decided to created a gift card holder. So I just wrapped a gift card in the polkadotted patterned paper (Papertrey Ink) and then added a bow (Papertrey Ink ribbon). The finishing touch was the banner behind it. It really tied in the images and paper used on the front.

Well that's all of them. They were so fun to make! I can't wait to get my hands on all of the new stuff!

More to come!

-Alisha

Easter..... a little late

Yep! It's an easter card! Even though Easter was a few weeks ago, I couldn't resist sharing this card! Plus, I believe that Easter should always be celebrated in April! What's up with a March Easter?

Loved how this card turned out. I wanted to use my Making Memories grommets for something more than just setting them. I thought this cute flower made a perfect "buckle" for my bow! I did another version of this card with a cracked glass effect over the egg. But I gave it away before I had a chance to take a picture.

The patterned paper is Chatterbox and the ribbon is American Crafts. The texture on the white cardstock courtesy of Cuttlebug embossing folders! The Happy Easter sentiment is from Close To My Heart stamps.

Stay tuned! I have several more Papertrey Ink projects to share with everyone! I am counting down the hours until their next release (tonight)!

I already have my eye on several things that I just have to have!

'Til next time!

-Alisha

Inspired by Spring!

Spring has finally arrived in Oregon! My FAVORITE sign of spring are these puffy light pink trees. I was driving my daughter to school and we saw some of these trees and I told her how much I loved the light pink against the dark brown wood of the trunk. She said that they looked like chocolate cupcakes with fluffy pink frosting! Instant Inspiration!

I had been having so much fun playing with my new Papertrey Ink stamps, inks, papers and ribbons and I knew the perfect card to make! One of the sets I ordered was "It's A Celebration." There are some delicious little cupcake images in this set that I had been dying to use!

Now I had the perfect project to use them on. Here are the results:

I took the cupcake stamps and stamped them in black on a plain piece of paper. I then used my scanner/printer to enlarge the image to the size of a card and used it as a template. The frosting and cake base form two separate flaps that open in the center. I used Papertrey Ink's awesome pink patterned paper to create the frosting and sprinkles. And Bazille textured cardstock was used for the cake base. I used a stylus to create the creases in the cake. The ribbon is from Papertrey Ink also.

Now I have always heard the phrase "You can't have your cake and eat it too." But on your birthday that just can't be true! So I decided to tweek this phrase a bit and use it with my card.

Here is the inside ( the cupcake image is stamped using Papertrey Ink's "It's A Celebration"):

Well I hope everyone one enjoys this little spring inspired birthday card! I have a few more Papertrey Ink projects to share with you later so check back in!


-Alisha

I'm Back with a Camera!

I haven't blogged much because I didn't have a digital camera..... But yesterday I finally got one! YAY!!!! I bought myself a Nikon D60! I am so excited! Now I can take pictures of all of my fun creations and share them with you all on my blog! So I thought I would start by sharing a few cards that I made a while back that I love!

This is a baby boy card that I made with My Minds Eye paper. The ribbon is American Crafts. The stamped circle image is an acrylic stamp from Inkadinkado. I made the star by running a foil sheet through the cuttlebug in one of the star embossing folders and then cutting out around the embossed image. The congrats tag is from Making Memories. I just loved how this card turned out. Hope you all enjoy it.

Well I can't show a baby boy card and not share a baby girl card! So here is one that I created with this awesome Cosmo Cricket paper! I just loved how soft it is! I again used American Crafts ribbon and my Cuttlebug and embossing folders to create the focal point. The grommet in the center is from Making Memories and I punched holes in the sides with a nail and hammer to make a place to insert the pink brads. The little footprints are a stamp from Close To My Heart.

Well I hope you all enjoy these cards. I have several more pictures to post! Including some of the projects I have been working on recently after getting my first Papertrey Ink order. I have been an avid fan for a while now, but only recently finally ordered! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE their stamps, inks, paper and ribbon! I have had so much fun working with their products! But I decided to submit my artwork for their April Guest Star Stamper contest so I will wait until the deadline passes to share it with you!

Off to the dugout! I am the Team Mom for my son's Teeball team this year! I am taking my new camera!

Just wanted to say Hi!

Howdy Everyone.... Sorry I haven't posted lately. I have been drowning in peaches! Over one hundred pounds to be exact..... Well 60 quarts later... and I still have about 3 batches of jam to do and I will be DONE! By the end I am sick of the taste, texture and smell of peaches.... BUT come winter time we love having the taste of summer in a bottle! Now I got to get to doing some tomatoes!

Front Page News: First Place at the State Fair!

Well, It is official! My daughter McKenna won the first place blue ribbon and a $50 gift card to Craft Warehouse for the card she created during the Creative Card Making Contest at the State Fair. Her winning card is the star one to the left. McKenna, Macey and I entered the contest last year and had so much fun that we decided to enter again this year! And we were thrilled when McKenna won! The kids division was first and so Macey and McKenna sat by each other and were given a packet of materials to create from. All of the kids received the exact same materials to work with and they were given ten minutes to create their cards. After the ten minutes the judges viewed all of the entries and announced the winners and we were all thrilled and surprised when McKenna won first place. I couldn't have been prouder!

I was just as proud of Macey. First of all I loved her cute little card! It is the one to the left. She drew a picture of herself in front of the fair with a little caption that says, "Hey, Where is the State Fair?" She has a great sense of humor. But even better was to see her be genuinely thrilled for her sister. I don't think she even took one moment to register that she didn't win anything. She was too busy being proud of her sister and excited for her.

Well, after the kids division finished, it was time for the adult division. We were all given a packet of materials to work with and ten minutes also. My card is to the left. That is what I came up with in ten minutes... The hard part is that there is one pair of scissors, one paper trimmer and one tape runner for 4 people to share. That's tough when there is only ten minutes. My card is pretty simple. We only had paper, felt flowers, brads and punches to work with. I was seriously wishing I had some ribbon or twine, a paper peircer, some stamps or some rubons... But I guess the "creative" part comes in when you have limited supplies. Anyhow I won 3rd place with this card. I really loved these colors and the paper I worked with. I just may have to use my $25 gift card (3rd place prize) to go pick up some of this paper. :)

To make a great day even better, our local newspaper, The Statesman Journal decided to do a story about the card making contest and so we woke up this morning to see McKenna and Macey on the front page! There is also a nice little write up about me and McKenna winning, in which they quote McKenna as saying that I am a "scrapbooking freak." I don't know if I am going to live that one down. It was funny though. To the left is the picture from the front page of the Statesman journal and here is a link to the story: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070831/STATEFAIR/708310307

Well that is our exciting news, just thought I would share!

Two Days In A Row!

I am back to blog for the second day in a row! I have been busy all day helping kids get their rooms cleaned and organized before they go back to school next week. We have been going through clothes, tossing the ripped and stained ones, putting the "size too small" ones in a bin for donation, etc. We got alot done today! I was so proud of my kids. I also decided to take on a REAL adventure. Zach started sleeping in a big boy bed tonight. He is 22 months old which is a younger age than I have ever started any of my other kids at.... I had to stay by the door and redirect him to bed about 5 or 6 times, but soon it fell silent and he was fast asleep. So the crib is coming down tomorrow! Another milestone! Zach is my last so these milestones are bittersweet! (Mostly sweet because the crib was taken up some valuable space in my scrapbook room!)

Speaking of scrapbook rooms, as I mentioned last night, I have several projects that I am getting ready to start specifically so that I can finish organizing and decorating my scrapbook room. And because I am in that frame of mind right now, I couldn't resist ordering the new book available through Simple Scrapbooks called "The Organized and Inspired Scrapbooker." I am dying to receive it! If there is one thing I love to do besides scrapbook and papercraft, it is organizing and decorating! Combine the two loves and I am a dangerous woman. Add in the fact that I absolutely love projects (the kind that involve elbow grease, patience and creativity) and you will find me in the position I find myself in now.... with a LIST of things I need to do to finish my scrapbook room. Here is my list:

• Strip, sand and refinish dresser.
• Strip, stain and refinish bookshelf.
• Add wood molding to my custom made paper shelving and paint.
• Move crib and other furniture out of my room.
• Create tags and labels for all of my stuff.
• Paint the scrapbook room (which is 720 sq feet.... almost as big as my first house)
• Decorate the walls.
• Make window treatments.
• Order my stamper storage ink stak!!!!

Well that's it for now! But knowing myself well, I am sure that I will add more items faster than I check them off! But for me that is half the fun! Oh and by the way I have to admit that monstrous room is not all mine! Half of it is... the other half will have our futon couch, the TV plus DVD and some sort of videogame, and a pool table and fooseball table. So the goal is to have it be a place the family can go for fun. My kids have been very respectful of my supplies and tools so I don't have to have a room that is just for me.

Off to bed. :)

Back to the Blog

Well it feels like it has been forever since I created my blog and posted for the first time, but I am back. This summer has been absolutely crazy for me. August is a crazy and expensive month for us. My son Josh and daughter McKenna were both born on August 2nd (six years apart) and my hubby, Rod's birthday is August 5th. My birthday is August 20th. Add in back to school clothes and supplies for 3 of our 4 kids and August becomes more expensive than Christmas.

In addition to all the partying and shopping, we have been using the summer to finish up some family projects. We built, primed, painted and hung shutters on all of our windows on the front of our house. We have 11 windows facing just the front of our house, so that was a big project. Now we are working on window boxes for the 2 windows just above the garage. I also am in the process of working on my scrapbooking room. I found an OLD dresser that I thought would be perfect for storing scrapbook supplies. It was $15 at an estate sale. It needs to be refinished, but it will be a great addition to my scrap room. I also have an old bookshelf that I am going to strip and re-stain and refinish for my scrap room. I tend to thrive on projects. I brought the dresser home while we were still working on the shutters... My hubby just smiled and rolled his eyes. I love that man!

Next week my kiddos start back to school. So I will be working on all of these fun projects. I am saving my pennies for a digital camera, so I will hopefully be able to start taking pictures of all of the cool projects I have going, before and after...

I am hoping to start sharing fun papercrafting tidbits too! Pictures would help...

Am I the only cavewoman who still doesn't have a digital camera?

What's In a Name....

First, Big Thanks to my friend and fellow blogger, Erin for getting me started. I suppose I should explain how I choose the blog name: Paper Prozac. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am an avid papercrafter. I love scrapbooking, making cards and just about anything involving stamping and paper!

IN THE BEGINNING:

My love of papercrafting started about 10 years ago. I started hoarding scrapbooking supplies when my first daughter was born. But I didn't actually start scrapbooking until my second daughter was born 3 years later. I remember visiting my friend Becky's house and seeing her iris cart full of rubber stamps, embossing powders, ink pads and such and thinking to myself, "Now that is just ridiculous!" Well...

She invited me to a D.O.T.S. party (now Close To My Heart) and I decided to order a few post bound scrapbooking albums. I ordered so much scrapbooking stuff that I earned a free stamp set. Well, the rest is history! I got those stamps in my hand and I was hooked! I have been stamping ever since... and ridiculous? Well, I am sure there are more than a few that have thought that when they see my scrapbook room! I am BEYOND ridiculous at this point!

WHY THE NAME?

I went to my first Close To My Heart party (D.O.T.S.) right after having my second daughter. I think she was about 2 months old. And like any other mother of a newborn, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. I had a touch of the baby blues and felt like I did nothing all day but take care of kids and the house. When I started scrapbooking and stamping, I felt a lift to my spirits. I found something to call my own and to this day I always feel like the creative process gives me a boost. So for me it was like prozac. I always looked forward to my scrapbooking time as a time to unwind, relax, rejuvinate, and to just boost my spirits! It was and continues to be my "happy pill."

MY BLOG:

I have developed my papercrafting and scrapbooking skills over the years through the generosity of others who have shared ideas, taught classes and made me feel like I could do what they were doing. I have learned so much! I've had the chance to teach papercrafting and scrapbooking classes over the years and love doing that! So I hope to make this blog a place where I can share my ideas and pass on things I have learned from others. I am at a point in my papercrafting where I love to challenge myself by creating items for submissions to magazines and contests. I also love to just challenge myself to think outside of the box and to look at my tools and supplies in a different way. So I hope this blog can become a place where I pass on things I have learned from others and share my ideas. Specifically, I hope that my blog helps those who, like me, use papercrafting, scrapbooking and stamping as a way to lift their spirits. I hope that my blog becomes a springboard to exploring your own personal creativity. I hope that you all leave this blog feeling like YOU are creative!