Saturday, February 20, 2010

Challenge 2: Inspired by Packaging!

Hi ya Peeps!

I hope you're ready for a new challenge?! Thanks so much to Lori for the last one, I had a blast spending ages deciding which button would feature on my card for that challenge!

So onto our new challenge....well I dunno about you but I tend to be inspired by just about everything around me. I recently found the packaging of my muesli a huge source of inspiration (as well as tasty) and the PTI colour combo just jumped out at me!

Therefore my challenge to you is to pick any one of the products by Dorset Cereals and think about using the colours featured on it on a creation of your own (it doesn't have to be restricted to cards!) Obviously some colours may struggle to match with a PTI colour so feel free to use other supplies or just pick a product that features all PTI colours. If you look closely at each package you'll see that they nearly all contain at least a bit of white text so feel free to use that if you want a neutral colour to balance things out a little!

Here's lots of different colour combos to take your pick from. If you want to check out bigger pictures then you can go to their website here and use the tabs just below their header to check out their different products!

For my example I picked some scrummy porridge that really jumped out to me:

It features New Leaf, Spring Moss, Pure Poppy, Dark Chocolate and White in terms of PTI colours. Here's my creation using that colour combo:


Now who says you can only use a holiday stamp set for that holiday? My DP here was created by stamping the tree from Holiday Tree. I thought it was kinda cool that it reflects the design on the packaging too!

Card Recipe
Stamps: Holiday Tree/Daily Designs/Daily Designs Sentiments
Ink: Dark Chocolate/Spring Moss/New Leaf
Card: Dark Chocolate/Pure Poppy/Spring Moss/Stamper's Select White/New Leaf
Accessories: New Leaf Twill Ribbon/Martha Stewart Border Punch/Circle Nestabilities/Cuttlebug


To enter just click on Mister Linky at the bottom of this post. The most important thing is to be inspired and to have fun so don't stress, there's no rules, so go get inky! I can't wait to see what you all create!

Aimes
x

Note: I'm not affiliated with Dorset Cereals in any way what-so-ever! Just a happy customer!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Happy Birthday Carol!

Photobucket

A Wee Bit About Me!!

Hi, my name is Angy and I am a PTIaholic. I discovered PTI late in 2007 while living in Garmisch, Germany. That is in the German ALPS and is so very breathtakingly beautiful. I earned my first anniversary set in February 2009 right before moving to Italy. I love stamping though initially it didn't appeal to me at all. I started out as a scrapbooker and nothing fancy. Just simple and easy.

I was invited to my first stamping party in August 2000. The only reason I went was because my husband was TDY (that's military speak for out of town on business) and the hostess allowed me to bring my two boys (who were 4 & 2 at the time). I bought 2 stamp sets ~ Say It With Scripture and Watercolor Garden. I figured I could make some scrapbook pages with the flowers and quick cards with the scripture. By January of 2001 I made the plunge to become a demonstrator for that stamp company. I loved teaching other women that they, too, could make something beautiful and fun. I worked as a demonstrator for 6 years before finally giving it up. (When we moved back to the US from Germany I couldn't get anyone interested in hosting demos for me so I retired as a demonstrator).

I wasn't really disappointed though because by then I had discovered PTI and had fallen in love with their products and customer service. My husband is equally impressed with the company because of all the FREE information that they have available for us. The release parties, the blogs, templates, card ideas and more.

Now a little about me... I grew up a very poor child in Phoenix, Arizona. I was in abusive household but always knew that God had something else in mind for me. Eventually, I was placed in foster care and had 3 wonderful families. My last family is still my family. They got their foster parent license just for me and my children consider them their grandparents. I met my husband right after high school and married him 5 days after my 19th birthday. We have been together ever since. It was an answer to prayer for both of us. This summer we will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. He is a great and loving man who indulges me in my passion for stamping and other craftiness:O)

We have two very smart, amazing boys. I homeschooled them when they were little, then they spent 3 years in public school after which we pulled them from school and homeschooled them again for another 3 years. It was a wonderful experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. My oldest is entering his high school years and so we decided to put them back into public school. They are adjusting amazingly well and have both made the honor roll.

In 2004, we were able to move to Germany for my husband's job. We absolutely loved it. We then came back to the US for 18 months before being moved to Italy (again for my dh's job~ being a GS employee means we are only allowed 3-5 years overseas before going back to the US for at least one year). Italy is a neat place to be but we really miss Germany. We are hoping to be able to get back to Germany some day soon.

Meanwhile, I still do my stamping and papercrafting. I have a THRIVE group (for women whose husbands are deployed) called Craft Your Art Out. We meet once a week and I use the time to complete projects for myself. Or I spend my time teaching them how easy it is to actually make something themselves. I really enjoying the teaching aspect of my group. It is so satisfying to see how pleased they are at creating something themselves.

I look forward to learning more about all of you and stalking your blogs. This is a wondeful way for us to grow and create together. Thanks for the daily inspiration.

ciao for now!!!


The photo is our most recent family photo. We took the picture in front of our Christmas tree in 2009.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

**Marinette**

Hello, I'm Marinette and I live in France, near Paris with my husband Fabrice and our two children Vincent, 10 years old and Quentin, 5 years old.
I decided to stop working to take care of my son Quentin who is autistic.
I have many occupations and I love cooking, I could stay entire days in my kitchen preparing good things to eat. My father taught me how to cook since I was a little girl. France is a great country for eating good food and I think this tradition should be preserved, it's so important to eat well!
I love reading and cross-stitching, but scrapooking is really my passion and I spend most of my free-time creating scrapbooking pages and cards.
Thanks to Ingrid and Hanneke I recently discovered the Papertrey Ink products and I really fall in love with them! They are so unique and very different from the products we could find in Europe. I totally love Dawn McVey and Lisa Johnson's creations, they are so talented and gifted, and so is all the Papertrey Ink design team!
I am so glad to be a member of the Papertrey Peeps, 17 talented women, very inspiring! I hope I will learn to better know them very soon. They have such different styles and they represent such a great and rich inspiration for me!
I would like to thank you so much for letting me join you and thanks to you I will push my creative limits even further!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Challenge 1!!


Hi everyone!! Welcome to the first Papertrey Peeps challenge!! I am so excited to be starting us off!!! I thought I would start out with an easy one and I challenge you to use buttons!! If you don't have any buttons you can certainly make some!! I wanted to get another card made making my own but haven't gotten to it yet, if I get a chance I will make another card and post it!!
For this challenge I wanted to do something a little different, first I challenged myself to use Lavender Moon. I LOVE this color but struggle with it for some reason. I decided to use my Love Songs set, I haven't used it in a while. I embossed the balloons on several colors and cut them out. I used my glue pen and applied Prisma Glitter, so sparkly!! When it was dry I used DMC floss, wrapping around the bottom of the balloons. I then went through my buttons and found this fun button with a hole in the back and ran the floss through the hole. The card still needed something so I used Nichole's technique and applied Scor-Tape around the edges of the top white layer and applied more glitter.
Thanks so much for stopping by and I can't wait to see what you create!!!
Supplies:
Stamps: Papertrey Love Songs
Paper: Papertrey White, Lavender Moon, Plum Pudding, Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz & Sweet Blush
Ink: Versamark
Tools/Accessories: Black Detail Embossing Powder, Lavender Moon Button, DMC Floss 310, Pop Dots

Sharron

Hi Peeps! My name is Sharron and I have been living in Wichita KS for the past 13 years. While I was born in Missouri, I have been a Kansan almost all of my life. I grew up in the Kansas City area but always lived in Johnson County (on the Kansas side). This is the second marriage for both my husband and me. Between us we have five children and seven grandchildren. Unfortunately, no one lives very close so our 'immediate family' consists of our slightly spoiled furry kids--a Sheltie, two Papillons and two very senior cats (18 and 16). We also have a turtle--a carryover from my hubby's zoo days. Actually that is where we met--at the Zoo! He was a curator and I was a docent for seven years and later was employed doing administrative assistant jobs for the director. We moved to a smaller town in Kansas when he took a director's position building a new zoo. I was definitely not a small town person and when local politics caused an end to that job, my husband went back into teaching at one of the parochial high schools in Wichita and we moved here. It is a perfect sized town and we love it. There really aren't any negatives except maybe the never ending wind! When we first married I did some part time zoo work but later got a job as a receptionist in the Pediatric area of a medical center. Then we moved and for 12 1/2 years I worked in a Urology office scheduling surgeries for 3-4 of the doctors. I finally retired at the end of September last year.

Like several others I got started in stamping when I went to a Stampin' Up party given by a fellow employee. She suggested SCS was a good source for ideas and through there I found Nicole's blog. That was two years ago. I was so inspired and once I got my first order, I was hooked. I had always said I never would get involved with scrapbooking and investing in all those supplies! Then I was exposed to stamping and cards and found a whole new love.  And of course now I am investing in all those supplies!! Just recently I set aside an area in our bedroom for an official stamping nook.

We live in an older neighborhood and have a very small yard. While we have redone all the landscape plantings, our gardening focus is primarily daylilies. Currently we have about 280 varieties. One has to be very creative with design to make room for them all! We also belong to the local daylily club and are active in the Regional organization. Last year we accepted the position of editors of the Regional publication. We are also avid birders. It was one of the reasons we chose this area. We live close to both rivers and can walk to the parks. We plan to do more travel now that we have more free time and always work birdwatching into our plans.

Both my husband and I also do photography. And until a couple of years ago my major creative activity was basket weaving. I belonged to the local guild but work pressures started to interfere and I put it aside for a while. I have a good friend who is also a weaver and I intend to do more now that I have time. I have also done tole painting, knitting, crocheting and cross stitching. I still have unfinished cross stitch projects--and a large source of embroidery thread that I now use on my cards! I love to read and while I usually only read nonfiction, now I find fiction fun and relaxing and always have a book handy. My husband and I also do dog agility with the Papillons. We don't compete but meet one evening each week with a group of fellow dog lovers to practice.

I feel so fortunate to be part of this group. I admire everyone's creativity and so much appreciate their support. Looking forward to many good times ahead!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Carol

Hello, Carol here. Get a cuppa (tea/coffee) and sit a spell while I tell you a little or lot about myself. 

Tell us about yourself, family:
I was born and raised in Chicago, IL. Moved to the Northwest Suburbs as a teenager and thought I had died! What was a 'city girl' doing in the 'sticks'? Time passed and one does learn to adjust to their surroundings. The farms disappeared and the city came out to the suburbs. Just had to learn to drive everywhere. Met my future husband our senior year at high school but would not marry until six years later. We've been happily married going on 36 years this coming October. I was a Medical Records Technician (no computers then!) until we started having children. Became a SAHM & raised 3 children, two girls and one boy. They are all married but no grandchildren yet! My husband was retired for two years when he was offered a consulting job out in Colorado. And 'westward ho' became a reality! But I'll tell you, if I thought moving to the suburbs of Chicago was 'going to the ends of the earth', it did not compare with this move. I now live in the foothills of Colorado. Oh there is civilization and it is very pretty here and I have acclimated after four years. 
I just have to drive 20/30 minutes to the nearest grocery store.  I'm SO thankful for having Internet. It is how I stay connected with my family, friends and love of stamping. We also have two, 12 yr. old, German Short-haired dogs, Beau and Luke. Yes, they were named for the 'Dukes of Hazard'. We even owned an orange Charger at one time! On moving out here, I retired from the 9 to 5 rat race. Instead, I volunteer my time at a private non-profit organization in our county. It's called the Douglas/Elbert Task Force. We provide immediate emergency help to individuals and families on the brink of homelessness. They have a food bank and thrift store open to the public. I work in the office and the store. The store is where I bring my cards to sell that help in a small way to buy food to stock the shelves at the food bank. 

How did you get into stamping? 
I actually started stamping while a teenager. I would write letters to friends and stamp cute little critters in the margins. With having children, came the beginnings of scrapbooking. It wasn't until a neighbor invited me to her first demo stamp party that I really began to collect sets of stamps with serious projects to make. Well, after several years, my neighbor made me realize I should become a SU demonstrator to get the discount. I  mean for 'Pete's sake' she was borrowing sets from me to use in her business! So for six years I enjoyed working for this company. I had a customer base and while in IL, I would also bring my stamps in for the kids in the before and after-school daycare program I ran for our school district. But there were more changes in the wind coming for me. Back in 2007, I signed up for PTI's very first stamp release. I was curious about this new type of clear stamp. It took me until this past September 2009 to quit SU and turn entirely to clear stamps. I do not regret the change. 


What other things do you like to do in your free time?
I love to bake! And what a challenge at 7000 ft that can be. Another hobby of mine is gardening. I love being in the dirt with my hands. Only where I live now it is a beach! Sand everywhere. So my DH built me raised garden beds last year and this helped so much. I'm a bird lover too which takes us on hikes. Something new I will be venturing into is landscape quilting. I also love embroidery, cross-stitching and photography. I have a new camera and maybe I'll get a picture of that old bear this year to share with you. He just loves to visit us and check out the bird feeders if I've forgotten to take them in each night.


There you have it. A bit of history and info about me. I love being a part of this Peeps group. We are from so many different corners of the earth and our love of crafting and Papertrey Ink has brought us together! 

Janice

Hi everyone! I'm Janice, and have lived in Wake Forest, NC for a while now.  I settled down here after traipsing through Denver, CO (5 years - graduate school), Charlottesville, VA (6 years - college/work), and Dedham, MA (where I grew up).  Dedham's claim to fame is the Fairbanks House, the oldest woodframe house in the US. It was built in 1637 - no great shakes for you European Peeps, but pretty old for the States.

I love to scrap, make cards, quilt, read and bake.  I started sewing when I was 10 years old, and took to it like a duck to water.  I mostly did garments, but began quilting at 22 and haven't looked back since.  Scrapping, stamping and cardmaking came later, after graduate school.  A neighbor asked me to several parties (CTMH, SU, and Creative Memories) and I was hooked.  I also do a lot of digital scrapping. 

I'm spoiled rotten by a husband who does most of the cooking and grocery shopping.  We have two sons, Matthew (7) and Jeremy (5 1/2), a Labrador retriever (Ribby), and a guard cat (Nollie). We are nuts about baseball (Red Sox) and DisneyWorld.

Lately I haven't had much creative time.  I started back to work, part-time, in mid-December.  I am a medical writer, and review data on new medications and then write up reports and other documents for FDA submission.  I am trying to find a balance between work, the kids, home duties, and creative time - it'll probably take a few more months for me to have a new routine down.  So my apologies in advance if I'm not as active in the next month or so as I'd like to be!

I spent about 2 years as an editor for ScrapStreet Magazine, and am still an administrator for the site.  It is a free e-zine, with a Cards column and lots of other sections on scrapping, altered items, and digital techniques.  I've been really impressed by all your creations and creativity so far.  Be prepared to have me pester you let you all know about calls and to encourage you to submit for publication! 

Thank you so much for letting me be part of this group!

Nicole


Hi Peeps! I'm Nicole. I'm from Pittsburgh, PA- lived here all my life, outside the 7 years I spent in Lancaster, Ohio when I was little. I've been married for 3-1/2 years to a great guy who has an awesome second job at PNC Park (Pittsburgh's baseball stadium that has a wonderful view of the city, too bad we don't have a good team to go with it lol). We have a 3 year old son, JD, who loves to keep us busy and always hams it up for the camera. :) I bartend part time at a neighborhood bar while attending community college for a double major in Business Management and Medical Insurance and will be done by the end of August. (I can't wait!)

I've always been creative since I was little, but didn't get into stamping until 3 years ago. After JD was born, I got into scrapbooking so I could save all the memories in something more than just a photo album. My first scrapbook album went to my sister-in-law for her wedding. And thinking back on it, I'm so embarrassed because it was completely plain lol! My friend, Tricia, has been making amazing cards with stamps for years and I always loved them! So I took the plunge and grabbed a few $1 wood-mounted stamps from Michaels to see if I could actually do it myself and I was hooked. It was Tricia who introduced me to Papertrey last spring and I immediately fell in love!

I'm thrilled to be a part of this amazing group and can't wait to get to know everyone and have fun! =)

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Heather












Hi everyone! :) My name is Heather, and I'm the next of the Papertrey Peeps to post an intro. :)

I live in Columbia, MD with my husband Jason, our 4 1/2 year old daughter Lindsay, and an assortment of little boogers (aka our 3 cats and our Aussie pup). Our daughter is a total spitfire, and I just love her to pieces. :)

I was born in England, and have spent most of my life in the US (in Maryland and Virginia), except for the four years we lived in Canberra, Australia (my mom was career Air Force).

I was introduced to the world of stamping back in late 2005 when my husband's aunt invited me to a stamp camp... :) I signed up to be a demo (for the discount...LOL), and plunged head first into stamping.  I ended up taking a blogging/crafting break over 2008, and when I returned to stamping in January of 2009, I was shocked beyond belief when I was asked to be a member of SCS's Dirty Dozen.  I mean, seriously... ME? LOL! It was a wonderful 6 months, and I grew and changed so much during that time.  I also stumbled upon PTI by way of Dawn McVey's blog back in February of 2009, and man oh man, it was quite the slippery slope! A year later and here I am... Hopelessly addicted. :)


Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this group! I'm really looking forward to getting to know you all better! :)

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Linda


Hi Peeps. I'm Linda W, a Jersey Girl, born and raised. (My favorite T-shirt is "Jersey Girls don't do gas". I tried once and pinched my finger so bad, I haven't tried since!) My husband Hans and I have two grown sons, two granddaughters and one grandson. I have a degree in Mathematics and was certified to teach Math in grades 7-12. However, I graduated in a year when jobs where few and far between so I worked for an insurance company as an actuarial assistant for a few years until our first son was born and then I became a SHM.
When our boys started college, I tried to return to the work force unsuccessfully and turned to volunteer work in our church. This led to a position as secretary to our Minister which I held for six years.
Following some serious health issues, Hans was offered early retirement in 2002 and we never looked back. We searched for several years until we found our dream of a circa 1797 stone farmhouse in southern Lancaster County, PA. We added a bedroom and bath for an in-law suite on the first floor and my mother joined us in the move. We absolutely love it here.
I started scrapbooking when we had our first granddaughter in 2001 and that led to my interest in stamps. However, no one warned me how I would fall head over heals in love when I discovered PTI. You can find me working at the top of the stairs on my little landing with a glass of chocolate milk on my desk. I leave that behind when I move to the vanity in the bathroom to work on a larger surface. (It may sound strange, but it's true.)
I love to sing (after many years of study I almost majored in music, but back then I also needed to play the piano and that settled that!), quilting is a huge part of my life, and I also like to do tole and decorative painting.
I love participating in the PTI forum and activities and being a part of this group filled with such talented and caring women. Thanks for letting me enjoy the fun!

Friday, February 5, 2010

Nerina

Hi Peeps! It’s Nerina here and it’s my chance to let you know something about me :0) I was born and raised in Sunny South Africa, lived for a while in London, England and now reside in Beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

I am blessed beyond measure to have met and married my soul mate; – my hunkadorus and I have just celebrated our 20th Wedding Anniversary! We met in a very traditional hospital setting where I was a junior nurse and he an honoured intern. Our very first conversation occurred over a patient whom I couldn’t single handedly move into a more comfortable position…..and the rest is history!

We have 4 fantastic children, ranging in age from 10 – 16, who brighten up our lives beyond measure. I still don’t know what teenage terrors are; these are the most helpful people of my acquaintance! I’m a homeschooling mum – something I find both terrifying and rewarding.

We are an animal loving family with a very gentle and adored Golden Retriever and 2 Shih-Tzu dogs (also known as ‘the cats’). We have tame chipmunks who come to visit us in our back yard, one of which we hand reared after its mother died last spring.

Creativity has always been a part of my life. I started fine art at school, but gave it up after my eldest was born. I tend to be very right-brain creative and lose track of time and place when drawing – something that doesn’t blend well with small children! I have also enjoyed other creative hobbies, including knitting and embroidery ( tone on tone candlewicking embroidery). I have been a scrapbooker for many years, but recently found that card making is even more enjoyable, as I get to start and finish a project in a reasonable amount of time and have total control over colours and composition – which one doesn’t always get when pulling these details out of photographs.

I’m a non-fiction book lover with special interests in History, Theology and Philosophy/Worldview. On Sundays I am active in our church and lead worship on rotation. (I’m a guitar player and enjoy singing! :0)

The other passion of my life is the well-being of children in the third world. I mentor 8 children - 6 in Burkina Faso, 1 in Tanzania and 1 in Kenya. Beautiful people who are planning a future and trying so hard to win against sometimes insurmountable odds.

I’m thrilled to be a part of the Peeps group. Although the group is new, there has been enough time to get a taste of what this incredibly talented company of ladies is capable of! Thanks for including me in your creative journey!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Cammie

Hello, fellow peeps! I'm Cammie Murphree; Cammie is short for Camellia, not really sure why my parents chose Camellia except that my father said he wouldn't be able to remember how to spell Penelope, so I became Cammie instead of Penny. I was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and haven't lived anywhere else. Knoxville is in east Tennessee about an hour from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. My husband and I began dating in high school, dated for six years, and have been married for thirty-three years. We don't have children but tend to baby our two cats, Lucy and Gus.

I taught high school English for 30 years. In fact, this photo is one of my last school pictures. While it may be fun watching your children grow up through school photos, it's not so much fun watching myself grow old(er) in school photos. :) In May 2008, at age 53, I retired. While it was the right decision and I don't regret it, it was very difficult to leave and I shed some tears. When needed, I do some volunteer work at the school; recently I worked with some seniors who are at risk of not graduating,helping them with their research papers.

I've enjoyed different crafts for many years. When I was young, I did embroidery with my mother and grandmother. I also have done latch hook, macrame, needlepoint, cross-stitch, and stenciling although I did very little crafting during the last 10 years that I was working. After I retired, I was at a holiday sale, where a local company was selling brass stencils that you can use for dry embossing. Claire Brennan of Waltzingmouse has a post about these stencils and company here. As I was buying some of the stencils, the girl told me she was teaching a class at a LSS, so I went. I loved all the papers, embellishments, and gadgets to use. I became interested in stamping, started doing research on the internet, and discovered PTI in November 2008. I placed my first order last January and have had fun this past year buying supplies, organizing a small craft area in our study, spending time creating, visiting blogs, and meeting wonderfully warm and super talented people. Card making has truly been a new world to me this past year.

I also enjoy puttering in the garden and hiking in the mountains. And I love to read. I'm a slow reader of non-fiction, so often those nonfiction library books are due before before I've finished them. But I can lose myself and many hours in fiction and race through a novel. I'd love to know some of your recommendations for a good read. My husband and I hope to resume our travels around the US and abroad someday. But shorter trips around the eastern part of the country will do have to do for now.

I'm so inspired by your creations and so fortunate to be part of this group.

Terri



Hi Everyone! My name is Terri Moore. I was born and raised in Denver CO and have never lived anywhere else. I have been married to my husband Rich for over 15 years and we have an 11 year old daughter named Emilia who I home school. We also have a 4 year old Black Lab mix named Sophie and a 3 year old Westie named Lily. I have been doing nails part time out of my home for over 15 years now specializing in hand painted nail art.

I have always been a very artistic person. I got into stamping about 5 years ago when an online friend of mine sent me some Close To My Heart Stamps. Shortly after that I found out about the Technique Junkies and I was hooked. Unfortunately a short time later I found out that I could not sell the things I made with CTMH stamps and sold most of them. After that I started using The Angel Company stamps in my work instead because they had a true angle policy but I still missed using clear stamps. A few months later I found Papertrey Ink, I think through Debbie Olsons blog and now all my other rubber stamps pretty much sit untouched.

My other interests include knitting, crocheting, quilting,cooking,watching reality TV and the Food Network and reading biographies about famous people. I am very happy to have found this wonderful group of ladies to be a part of this group with. I also look forward to the challenges and getting to know each other even better in the future.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Amy

Hi ya Peeps! Amy here or as most people know me - Aimes! I'm originally from Derbyshire, England but now living in the city of Sheffield (still in England though!) with my special guy and soul-mate Chris. We met at Uni nearly 10 years ago and haven't been apart since! I'm lucky because he has an obsession with IT so he's my guy when it comes to technical problems and in return for the past year or so he's not had to buy a single card for any single occasion in the calendar (well, apart from cards for me!) so it works pretty well!

We have no kids but I work with them full time in a mainstream secondary school (High school) supporting any students with any difficulties (emotional and behavioural) in ANY lesson whilst also teaching literacy. It's a really demanding job but provides the most amazing job satisfaction when it goes to plan! I'm a busy kinda gal so you'll often see me dashing around at work and out of work too - there just aren't enough hours in the day so come the weekend I make a real effort to get inky!

I've been stamping and blogging for about a year now and discovered PTI in March 2009 thanks to my fellow bloggin' buddy Kate. We run a blog together called A Passion For Papertey in which we....umm....well.....share our passion for all things Papertrey!

When getting inky, I wish I had a dedicated room but I'm in the corner of our spare room so it's very cramped but I'll always manage to squeeze a cup of tea on my table somewhere! My main issue is tidying up after an inky session. To suggest I'm not a tidy meticulous stamper is an understatement!

I think my stamping dream would firstly be to get on a design team or get published (or both!) and then to be able to make a living out of my creative outlet. Maybe this year I'll be brave enough to submit something...

My other hobbies apart from the obvious include playing the bass guitar, reading pretty much anything and drawing. I cannot resist the urge to doodle and draw if my hands have nothing else to do.

Finally, I'm so glad to be a part of this group and I'm already getting lots of inspiration from my fellow peeps' creations!