PTI Blog Hop: Seed Paper Cards

It's once again time for the monthly blog hop sponsored by PaperTrey Ink. Tonight we are sharing projects for spring. Every year when the weather begins to turn warmer I start getting the urge to play in the dirt... I mean garden. I also always wanted to try papermaking. Combine the two and you get.............(drum roll)
Seed paper!
I found a couple different recipes here and here, but I ended up just making it up as I went. It was royally messy. And fun.

For my first batch I just used shredded newspaper (we have a paper shredder) blended up with lots of water in a blender. This made a nice greyish vomit-looking substance. Lovely. Now's the time to toss in your favorite herb/vegetable/flower seed and stir. Don't blend the seeds! I then poured the runny pulp onto a screen stretched over a frame (my dad made the screen/frame for me, but I think they sell them in craft stores?). Oh yeah- hold the screen over a Rubbermaid container to catch the excess water while you pour. Then **gently** press out a little more water with your hands (this feels weird!). After the water completely stops dripping, leave the paper pulp to dry for about 24 hours on the screen. Then carefully plop the homemade paper off of the screen and onto a piece of felt to dry for 2 more days in a warm-ish place.

So this doesn't exactly make paper, but more of a cardboard. Like the grey paper egg cartons in grocery stores. I scored mine and pulled apart into ~3" squares. My first batch contained a wildflower seed mix.



To present the seed paper as a gift, I came up with a pocket card using Green Thumb, Flower Garden Sentiments, and Simple Alphabet. I used a 1" circle punch to cut a little halfmoon notch at the open end.

I ended up making 2 more batches of paper, this time using shredded white copy paper, green tissue paper, and some Ripe Avocado cardstock scraps, to get something similar to a Spring Moss color. It looked just like guacamole in the blender! I added poppy seeds (for planting, not eating) to one batch and basil seeds to the other.



I made little tags for the seed paper squares with my Marvy mega scalloped circle punch and Making Memories slot punch. A glue dot where the ribbon comes together keeps it loosely wrapped around the square. A button tied on with floss will serve as a pull.





See how I have the type of seed spelled so neatly in a curve at the tops of the tags? I punched a 1.5" circle from scrap paper and used it as a guide when placing the letters on my block, so I got perfect concentricity (is that a word?).







So I think these would make cool Easter, Mother's Day, or shower favors. I plan to print instructions for planting and include those in the card. I'm just not sure what those instructions are, at the moment. I'm thinking just lay the paper on cultivated garden or potting soil, lightly cover with soil, water and keep moist until the seeds sprout. Maybe I should try planting one and see if it actually grows before I give these away!



Thanks for stopping by!
Mindy

Supplies
Cardstock- Kraft, Pure Poppy, Berry Sorbet, Ripe Avocado, Dark Chocolate
Ink- Pure Poppy, Berry Sorbet, Ripe Avocado, Dark Chocolate, True Black
(Creamy Brown - Colorbox chalk ink for distressing edges)
Stamps: Green Thumb, Flower Garden Sentiments, Simple Alphabet, Faux Ribbon (brackets)
Buttons - American Crafts
Ribbon - Spring Moss Swiss Dot, Dark Brown satin ribbon from Big Lots

Happy Valentine's Day

This is Scott's valentine from me. I got the heart shaped box at Target and filled it with dark chocolates. I stamped the "Love you forever" sentiment on it to match the card. I tried to make it somewhat manly, but nothing with hearts on it is ever going to strike a very masculine note.



Meanwhile Molly is getting plenty of love today, whether she wants it or not.

It's in the Bag challenge

Papertrey Ink is celebrating their 2-year anniversary this month and giving away tons of great prizes. For the "It's in the bag" challenge I stamped this little canvas tote. Unfortunately I got the date of the deadline mixed up and though I finished last night, I didn't post until today. Bummer.



Big lots has the canvas totes in packs of three for $3... That's cheaper than paper gift bags! And the recipient can resuse it. You can't have too many totes, I say. I filled this bag with bath products... a nice girly gift.



This is the first time I've tried stamping with PTI's hybrid ink on fabric. It's works really well. The dalia and leaf stamps are from Inkadinkadoo. The "Happy hello" and underline are from PTI's Paper Tray set. The line of flowers stamped at the top is from PTI's "Around and about sentiments" set.



I added some cute buttons where the handles join. I'm forgetting who makes these buttons at the moment, but they came from Big Lots too.



Now I'm excited to stamp the other two canvas bags. Check back soon for the next PTI contest challenge project.... MCM

More baby shoes

I made more baby shoes, this time with ducks, or chicks, and a button closure.



I copied these from someone one Etsy. Hers are about a hundred times better looking so I'm not giving you the link. Ha. But I wanted to say I didn't invent these myself. I made them as a gift for my friend who could be going into labor at any time now, and she doesn't know the gender so yellow seemed like a good idea. Things I would fix if I made another pair: I would change my pattern so the seam of the lining matches the seam of the outer shoe; I would make the lining smaller so it's not so bunchy; I would make the buttons fasten symmetrically to each other, instead of the same way...oops.

I also made a bib. Sticking with the yellow theme for the pocket, I used a tropical fabric (baby will live in FL) to make my own bias tape. The pattern for the bib is here.



I love the little gable boxes from Papertrey Ink to package these.



The set:

I made the cutest baby shoes ever

First of all, I should admit that I didn't invent these. I saw a pattern for sale on etsy.com, and since I didn't want to pay for the pattern I sort of just looked at the pictures and tried to figure it out. If you'd like to try these using a real pattern, it's for sale here. My version is slightly different in that you can completely reverse the shoe and still have the closure on the outside. Also, my stitching is messier.





Here's the reverse:



I made these for our friends' new baby, born on November 7 (that's the baby, on the mommy's facebook). I found that PTI's small gable box was the perfect size for the shoes. I made a little insert from Ripe Avocado cardstock to dress up the inside of the box.



Aren't these cute all tucked in their box...



The outside is covered in a strip of patterned paper. If you enlarge the photo you can see the label on the front has very faint footprints stamped in aqua mist. The sentiment is from Favor it Baby.



For the accompanying card, I used Lauren Meader's directions for creating a onsie card, but I did it in miniature. I used Simple Alphabet to stamp the baby's name on the onsie. Gabe is a cool name, I think.

Oh. I found the little hangers at Big Lots for $1. I forget the company right now...



The stamp inside was another Big Lots find.



Here's the final presentation!



I also made more cake pops and another sweater purse this weekend. Phew. I'll post those later.

Slice and bake cookie gift set

Now is a great time to get a head start on holiday baking. One way to save a little time is to make cookie dough and freeze it. I particulary like icebox cookies, because the dough is frozen in a log shape and all you have to do is slice. Frozen cookie dough logs also make a nice hostess gift if you're visiting someone during the holidays (and they might bake them while you're there and let you eat some... hehe). I always put my rolls of dough inside a paper towel tube until it's frozen, or after removing from the freezer... this helps prevent one side from getting flat. I thought a pretty way of presenting the dough would be to dress up the tube and put together a little cookie kit.



I covered the paper towel tube with some striped paper from DCWV's Christmas Stack.



Before freezing, wrap the dough in parchment paper and tie the ends with kitchen string. Write the type of dough and baking directions right on the parchment with a Sharpie. If you're going far, keep the parchment-wrapped frozen dough in a cooler until you arrive and then you can easily slip it back into it's tube and giftbag. I threw in this little pack of sprinkles from the Target dollar spot area (although I think these were $2.50, not $1, but cheap nonetheless...)



I created a tag using Papertrey Ink's 2008 Holiday Tag collection, as well as the Holiday Treats set.



I found some tiny cookie cutter embellishments at the local stamp store. These are by Jesse James. "Homemade with Holiday Cheer" stamp is from Holiday Treats.



Again I combined 2008 Holiday Tags and Holiday Treats to create this card front, using more of the striped Christmas paper.



Here are a couple icebox cookie dough recipes, from Martha, of course:

Basic icebox cookie dough

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
5 cups flour, plus more for work surface
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Food coloring, in various colors

Directions
Using the electric mixer, mix the butter and the sugar until creamy. Add the eggs and the salt, and mix well. Beat in milk and vanilla. Add flour a little at a time, mixing it in until all of it has been incorporated.
Divide the dough into balls, one for each color. For chocolate dough, add cocoa (1/4 cup is enough to flavor half a batch). Mix well with electric mixer. For colored dough, start with 1/4 teaspoon food coloring, and mix well. Add more in tiny amounts for darker colors. Gel-paste coloring can be intense, so add it gradually. Roll dough into 1.5" diameter logs. Wrap in parchment and tie ends with string. Freeze for up to 2 months.
When time to bake, slice and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment or Silpat. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

Lime Meltaways

One of my favorite icebox cookies is the Lime Meltaway. These should be kept smaller, about the diameter of a quarter. I have found that the cardboard tube out of the plastic wrap box works well for smaller diameter cookie storage.

Ingredients
Makes about 10 dozen
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
Grated zest of 2 limes
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream butter and 1/3 cup sugar until fluffy. Add lime zest, juice, and vanilla; beat until fluffy.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt. Add to butter mixture, and beat on low speed until combined.
Between two 8-by-12-inch pieces of parchment paper, roll dough into two 1 1/4-inch-diameter logs. Chill at least 1 hour.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Place remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a resealable plastic bag. Remove parchment from logs; slice dough into 1/8-inch-thick rounds. Place rounds on baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart.
Bake cookies until barely golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool slightly, 8 to 10 minutes. While still warm, place cookies in the sugar-filled bag; toss to coat. Bake or freeze remaining dough. Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.