Kelly Purkey

Spring is in the Air

I am happy to be back in NYC from a great trip to Louisville.  Even though there's still a bit of snow, it feels warmer here than it did down there.  Almost like Spring is on it's way!  Yay!

And speaking of Spring, I've got a Papertrey Ink project to share :)  The challenge was to showcase a fresh + fun spring color scheme.  If you know me well, you know that I'm a complete J.Crew junkie.  The addiction is bad.  But it definitely can be good because no one else inspires me with their color combinations like they do.  For example, I took a cue from their Sunshine Peonies Perfect Shirt to create this Easter card...
 

 

I absolutely love the oranges, pinks, golds, and dark yellow color scheme.  Using the Egg Hunt stamp set, I copied the painty, layered look of the shirt.  The Hybrid ink was perfect for this look... I used Sweet Blush, Raspberry Fizz, Melon Berry, and Hibiscus Bursts on top of each other.  The last color I added was Summer Sunrise cardstock, which was a perfect match for the pinks and orange.

I added some twine and wrote my message with a gold pen to add one little touch of bling.  Be sure to check out these amazing PTI designers for more fun Spring ideas:

Michelle Wooderson
Betsy Veldman
Lisa Johnson
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols

Happy March and have a great week everyone!

Greetings from Louisville!

Just a reminder that registration for my Beginnings class ends tonight at midnight EST!  Thank you to all of you who have registered already... I can't wait to get things off and running on Monday.  Antsy.  Giddy.  Exuberant.

I had my first two CKC classes this morning and they were a blast.  But it wasn't smooth sailing getting here... the trouble with my flight + missing suitcase + really bad 1st hotel could easily make me say that I hate traveling.  But let's face it.  I love to travel.  It's in my bones.  A friend recently told me a lot of people say they love to travel, but when I say it I'm not messing around.  I've got wanderlust and it's one of the things I enjoy most about my life.  The whole world is out there and waiting and just a plane ride away and I want to see it.  Next month will contain two trips where I get to soak up some sun for a while.  Spending my birthday on the beach... already halfway there mentally ;)

Before I say goodnight from Louisville I wanted to share a couple of travel layouts from a trip to Seattle...

This one was for an article I wrote in the September issue of Creating Keepsakes on using fashion trends (rosettes) on your layouts.  Pike's Market is definitely one of my favorite places I've visited.

I made this one for the American Crafts blog, featuring the new Remarks sticker sheets.  These stickers were one of the last things I helped designed when I worked there so of course I am proud of them :) 

Also, I'm in need of some good shoe recommendations... cute, comfy flats that I can wear for teaching.  I have small wide feet (my dad calls them Fred Flinstone feet) so slim ballet flats don't really fit me.  Please send any suggestions my way!

Have a great weekend, everyone!!!

Portland Photos

One thing that I know for sure about Portland is that people who live there, love living there. It's not hard to see why. I fell in love myself.  Think laid back, super friendly, down to earth, easy to get around, amazing wine, and beautiful landscapes.  Sold.

The second thing that I know is that if I lived there, I would weigh 500 lbs. Because the food there... well, let's just say that they kill it.  I had a lot of food recommendations from scrap friends + people in the resto industry and that meant I ate very, very well on this trip.  And anyone in my CKC classes can tell you that if I wasn't in the classroom you could find me at a booth in Burgerville. 

I wish I could say that this amount of beautiful food was consumed over a month... but sadly it was pure gluttony for only six days.  Yes six days, all that food (and ahem, more.)  Darling food, I will never quit you.

Thankfully Portland is a walkable city so I strapped on my boots to burn off a bit of that food and see some sights + make some friends.

I stayed at the Ace Hotel, which I recommend.  Highly.  I'd only been to the Ace here in NYC but one step inside makes me want to pack up and move in, so I knew the Portland location would be just as fabulous.  And it was.  I loved it.  

As I loved the whole trip to Portland.  A return visit to Portland/Seattle is on the docket for later in the year.  I just can't stay away.  Those profiteroles are calling me back... KP KP KP!

I'm heading off to CKC Louisville tomorrow and looking forward to seeing my KY girls!  There's already been a discussion about where we're having dinner Saturday.  I think they're trying to steal my heart away from PDX...

Snapshots of My Weekend: 02.21.10

First off, I want to announce the winners of the Scrapbook Trends magazines :)

Ali Edwards is probably my biggest inspiration. The way she finds beauty in simple, every day things is inspiring. I also love how much you stamp on your layouts. To know that you don't have a huge scrapbooking space just makes it that much sweeter. Thanks for the inspiration you provide!

Posted by: Lindsey Martins | February 19, 2010 at 01:43 PM

I love your work Kelly and your good friend, Susan Weinroth's! What a dream it would be to meet the both of you...ahhh!!

Posted by: Annie | February 20, 2010 at 10:00 AM

Woot woot!  Please send me your addresses and I'll get the magazines sent right out.  Thanks to all of you for the great comments... it was so fun to hear all about your inspirations.  And thank you for the sweet words.  I have the BEST blog readers!

I want to start a new weekly post with Snapshots of My Weekend.  I was inspired by Kate's For Me, For You blog where she posts her Bits of My Weekend.  I love how the images say so much.  My friends tease me that since I work from home, everyday is my weekend.  (Hmm, kind of true.)  But Friday, Saturday, Sunday are when I get to play with friends. Wheee!  And that's when the most photos get taken.  So I'm going to start posting six snapshots from the weekend.  This one was crazy busy but here we go...

Sare and I did some shopping and people watching at the Rock.  We went to see Time Stands Still and had some awesome celeb run-ins with Alicia Silverstone, Laura Linney + some good laughs with her posse, and an incident with Alec Baldwin.  POTUS enjoyed dinner and a show with us.  I finally won the In the Heights lotto and have to say it was my favorite performance of the seven times I've seen it.  Loved being with my besties in NYC.  Chloe and I did dinner at one of my fave restos - Resto.

And thank you to all of you who have signed up for my Beginnings class!  I'm getting so excited.  Registration is still open through the rest of this week.

Have a great week, everyone! :)

Scrapbook Trends Giveaway!

The giveaways for spots in my class are still open on Susan's, Lisa's, Stephanie's, and Elizabeth's blog (see the post below)... and I thought I should do a little giveaway of my own. 

I was so honored to have Scrapbook Trends choose this layout for their November 2009 cover.  It's always such a pleasure to work with them!  And that Jenni Bowlin butterfly paper is still one of my favorite papers.  That JB.  She is an incredible inspiration to me... innovative, creative, generous, a great business woman, and one of the nicest people I've ever met.

I'm giving away two copies of the issue... just leave a comment telling me who is your scrapbook inspiration and why :)  I'll draw two names after the weekend.  Have a good one, everybody!!!