NYC wrap-up

Well here are another couple of layouts from NY to round off my time there. Not a big fan of modern art, but I felt I should visit the Guggenheim and MOMA. I was also following up some family roots in the city - trying to trace a great aunt  who lived there from the early 1900s. I've tracked her as fares 1940 wit the Federal Census and it was kind of fun to stand outside the apartment building where she once lived.

The Met

This was one of my favourite places in NYC. The Met is absolutely amazing. I think you could probably spend a week there and still not see everything. Great paintings, architecture and decorative items from all over the world. Here are just a few highlights.

The Lone Star state

After NYC I headed to Texas to spend a week with friends. Had a great time, including a trip to the fabulous Longhorn steak restaurant. Enough food on my plate to feed a whole family, but that seems to be par for the course!

Well-known sites

This time in NYC I had two trips up the Empire State (one at night and one during the day) and also went to the Top of the rock (Rockefeller Centre) to catch the view from there.

And on the right are some of the buildings that caught my eye on one of the bus trips we did. That was put on by the New York Road Runners just before the marathon. It's called 'Marathon by Coach' and follows the route from Staten Island at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge through all 5 boroughs right to Central Park.

Morris-Jumel Mansion

I'd heard about the Morris-Jumel Mansion before I git to NY and always wondered what its significance was. The day I visited it was full of school parties which I think is a great sign. However, parts of the Mansion are in pretty poor repair and it needs substantial work to make it weather tight, replace areas of damp and damage etc. The adjoining Sylvan Terraces were a great find - beautifully restored row houses now part of an historic area.

PTI 7th anniversary - card & envelope challenge

Last challenge over at Nichole's blog - to make a card with coordinating envelope. Here's what I whipped up:

Supplies (PTI unless otherwise noted)
Paper - Stamper's select white,
Stamps - Beautiful Butterflies
Ink - Versafine onyx black; Amuse
Accessories - Beautiful Butterflies dies

PTI 7th anniversary challenge - building blocks challenge

Time for yet another challenge on Nichole's blog - quite a mission as it involved using all sorts of randomly chosen elements!

Supplies (PTI unless otherwise noted)
Paper -  select white, simply chartreuse and summer sunrise patterned packs
Stamps - Fillable Frames, Funky Florals; Paper Smooches Simply Said
Ink - Amuse
Accessories - simply chartreuse button and ribbon; embossing powder

PTI 7th anniversary - stripes challenge

Some great new stripe cover plates are being released by PTI this month and there's a new challenge to go with that on Nichole's blog - to upload a project using stripes in some way. Here's a card which features PTI's victorian lace border die in stripe format:

Supplies (PTI unless otherwise noted)
Paper - stamper's select white, pure poppy, ocean tides; card stock from stash
Stamps - YOF: violets (sentiment)
Ink - Versafine onyx black
Accessories - Victorian Lace Border die; cricut machine; metal stickers

PTI 7th anniversary - birthday card

PTI has some great new birthday products this release. Here's a card for the latest challenge on Nichole's blog which was to make a birthday card to celebrate this year's anniversary. It uses Rosie Posie, one of my favourite sets.

Supplies (PTI unless otherwise noted)
Paper -  stamper's select white,
Stamps - Rosie Posie; Paper Smooches Simply Said
Ink - Amuse; Versafine onyx black
Accessories - spring rain ribbon; foam tape, copics

PTI 7th anniversary day 4 - monthly moments

Managed to whip up a filler card to enter for the latest challenge on Nichole's blog which was to berate a monthly moments 3 x 4 trading card. But this card isn't being traded - it's going in my niece's Project Life album.

Supplies (PTI unless otherwise noted)
Paper - stamper's select white, summer sunrise, sweet blush pattern pack
Stamps - Heart-2-Heart #6
Ink - Amuse
Accessories - pure poppy felt; sewing machine, corner chomped

PTI 7th anniversary limited supplies challenge

There's another challenge over on Nichole's blog. This one was to take only 7 minutes to choose 7 supplies and then to create a card in 17 minutes. Only just squeaked in and I had to do some alterations half way through when I realised I had too many supplies. But here's the card I came up with:

If scissors and paper trimmer are also counted then I'm 2 over. This was harder than I thought!


Supplies (PTI unless otherwise noted)
Paper - stamper's select white, limeade ice, aqua mist pattern pack
Stamps - Tremendous Treats: Birthday
Ink - Memento Tuxedo black
Accessories - paper doily, copics

PTI 7th anniversary challenge #2 take 2

Managed to make a second entry for the current challenge over at Nichole's blog here. I used another one of the elements from the 2014 printables and here's what I came up with:

Supplies (PTI unless otherwise noted)
Paper -  stamper's select white, aqua mist and berry sorbet pattern packs
Accessories - 2014 PTI printable, filigree border die, blueberry sky felt; mini pearl

PTI 7th anniversary challenge #2

Time to play along with another challenge. This one was to use downloadable printables for a project. You can check out the challenge here. And here's what I came up with:

Supplies (PTI unless otherwise noted)
Paper - autumn rose
Accessories - 2014 free printables; paper doily; bakers twine, scarlet jewel felt; corner chomped

PTI 7th anniversary challenge #1

It's PTI's 7th anniversary this month. I decided to play along with the challenge today which was to use one colour scheme and sketch on Nichole's blog to inspire a project. I chose this colour scheme and sketch:

I decided to make a mini clipboard inspired filler card for the Project Life album I'm currently working on. Really pleased with how it turned out.

Supplies (PTI unless otherwise noted)
Paper - hawaiian shores, aqua mist, hibiscus burst pattern pack, new leaf pattern pack; Crate Paper Flea Market 6 x 6
Stamps - Avery Elle Oh Yeah
Ink - Versafine onyx black, Amuse
Accessories - Pretty Paper Pretty Ribbons clipboard svg file; felt, Notched Flower dies, Turning a New Leaf dies, circle punch, Quick Kutz metal sheet; Signo Uniball white pen

9/11 Memorial

It was very moving to visit the 9/11 Memorial.

Last time I was in NYC, the site was just a hole surrounded by hoardings. I think the Memorial design chosen is very fitting and the site feels like a peaceful little haven in the middle of a busy and bustling city.

We were just slightly too early for the museum but the first new World Trade Center Building had just been topped off. There was some controversy over its height (all to do with whether the mast on top is a spire or antenna) but the Council on Tall Buildings confirmed it is a spire and at a symbolic 1776 feet, 1 WTC  is the tallest building in North America.

Green space

Well maybe more orange and yellow at this time of year! I'd forgotten how fabulous Central Park is and all the great spaces there. Of course in the autumn there are skiing rinks everywhere. Bit of a novelty for us.

The other great discovery was the High Line - a lineal park created from a disused railway line. It runs above the city and gives a unique perspective on NY lift. I recommend it highly (pun not intended) if you're going to be there:

MIM #150 window screen

Seems like it's ages since I took part in a PTI Make it Monday challenge. But I was inspired by Melissa Phillips' innovative window screen technique and decided to give it a go. You can check out the video here.

Here's what I came up with. It's a filler card for the Project Life album I'm doing for my niece (more on that later).

I enjoyed the die cutting so much, I decided to make another smaller filler card, this time with a sequin pocket behind it:

Supplies (PTI unless otherwise noted)
Paper - Maggie Holmes Flea Market PL kit, Crate Paper Flea Market 6x6; pure poppy, scarlet jewel, autumn rose, vellum card stock
Accessories - Wonderful Words love die, filigree border die, framed out #11 die, hexagon cover plate, sequins, sewing machine, Freckled Fawn wash tape