Happy Birthday to my nephew! Viva la Verve March Week 2 (VLVMar2011)

Today I'm sharing my entry for the Viva la Verve March - Week 2 challenge. I made this card for my nephew's 4th birthday party tomorrow!

I used Verve's To the Moon for that sweet little giraffe. I love how he looks, peeking out of that cute little frame (made with Nesties - Labels 12 and Squares), but instead of stamping the frame image, this time I stamped some of the little star trio image from the set.

I also used Papertrey Ink Impression Plates (Tin Types on the card base and By the Numbers on the orange strip), the banner die, and the sentiment from Make a Wish. I used twine from The Twinery and tied it all up with a PTI button a-la Jackie Pedro style! Jackie does this a lot and I always love it! 

Thanks for looking! And here is the original sketch, so fun!

sweet butterfly card

Just a quickie post today. I made this card a while back and haven't posted it.

Used PTI's Love Lives Here butterfly die and the original butterfly die, I just love how they look layered. Also Text Style 2 and Polka Dot Basics 2 stamps. Mat Stack 1 Collection for the frame, Year of Flowers - Roses for the sentiment, Polka Dots Impression Plate, and large scalloped border die.

Thanks for looking!

Rejection loves company Blog Hop - Part 2!

This is my second and final post to share my cards that I submitted to the Paper Crafts Go-To Sketches call, but didn't make the cut! I posted the first two yesterday.

My first card today was based on sketch #25:

And here is my card, featuring PTI's Lily of the Valley, my absolute favorite Year of Flowers set!

I also used Background Basics: Text Style 2 just on the edge of the green panel. The entire front green/brown panel is popped up with foam adhesive. The sentiment is from Verve Kind Words, I just love the font combination. I colored the 3 Creative Charms gems with the same Copics that I used on the flowers.

And my last reject to share is probably my favorite, another one for Sketch 82:

I used PTI's Up Up and Away,  still one of my favorite sets... I keep coming back to it over and over.

I love coloring that little balloon! And I carefully stamped my cloud on the Harvest Gold card base, and then stamped just the bottom portion again on the blue strip so that they would line up.

The die-cut cloud is embossed with the Sunshine impression plate, and both it and the balloon are popped up on dimensional adhesive.

The sweet little row of pearls is from Creative Charms.

Well, thanks for sharing my rejection with me... LOL! It's such a bummer when those calls go out and none of them come to me, but I'm already working on the next round of calls. I will keep trying! And don't forget to check out Amber's Rejection Blog Hop for more amazing, rejected cards! :)

Rejection loves company Blog Hop!

Like a lot of papercrafters, I was so sad yesterday to NOT get anything picked up from the recent publication call from Papercrafts for their Go-To Sketches edition. But Amber had an awesome idea, and has set up a "rejection blog hop" for us to share our rejected entries! I can't wait to hop around because I know that some AMAZING work does NOT get picked up, for all kinds of reasons!

I submitted 4 cards, so I will share two today and two more tomorrow. First, I used Sketch 82:

My card features that cute little giraffe and frame from Verve's To the Moon set! I also used a Fillable Frame and sentiment from Papertrey Ink, and the new PTI doily edger die, along with the sunshine impression plate. The patterned paper is Bella Blvd. I'm also entering this card for Sandy's Challenge #3 over at Sandy's Space, so be sure to check out the fun challenge she has there! Thanks for the invite, Sandy!

I popped up the frame on dimensional adhesives, and used the Sunshine impression plate (definitely one of my favorites!) on the bottom portion of the card. TIP: to get a more visible impression, I applied Versamark ink to the impression plate before running it through, letterpress style.

The other card I'm going to share today was based on Sketch 14:

Here is my card:

Obviously, I turned the card horizontal, and instead of the pointy "banner" I used the rounded banner from PTI's Banner Builders. I put the cute little teeny sentiment right on the middle banner panel. The sentiment and balloon and cake images are all from Tiny Treats: Birthday.

I'll be back tomorrow with my other 2 cards (and I'm saving my favorites for last... hehe!). Thanks Amber for setting up this blog hop! And thanks Papercrafts for the sketches, I'm sure it will be an amazing issue!

Viva la Verve - March Week 1 (VLVMar2011)

I'm so proud of myself for getting all 4 of the Viva la Verve challenges done in February... I'm going to try to keep the momentum going in March! Last week's sketch by Amber (see sketch below) is just perfect, so easy to work with. I flipped it horizontally, and used it for this sympathy card that I needed for a friend through our church.

I used the Psalm 46 Plain Jane and cut the dove from felt using the dove die from Papertrey Ink's Peace Be Still collection. The patterned paper is My Mind's Eye.

I also finished the inside. The "thinking of you" and the flower image are from Verve's Kind Words, and I paired them with the "wish sympathy" from PTI's Round and Round.

Here is Amber's sketch! You can find all the challenge details here on the forum, and play along for a chance to win an AWESOME prize!! 

Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday again: Fun Foam

A quick post because I have to get back to grading algrebra exams... ugh! But I have another Make it Monday entry for this week!

I again used the foam two ways. First, the Limitless Layer "frame" is cut from foam. First I cut the Limitless Layer shape, and then cut out the center with the plain circle die from the same series. TIP: if you are going to make a die-cut like this with very thin edges, first adhere Scor-Tape to the back of the foam (or paper) before running through the die-cut machine. It was easy to just peel off the backing and adhere to my card! :) 

Second, I also stamped the Mat Stack 4 shape on my card, with a light orange chalk ink, using a foam "stamp" that I cut with the die. Then I stamped the image from Mat Stack 4 Collection in a darker orange right on top. Then I stamped the cake image from Birthday Tags in a light aqua, and the sentiment from Fillable Frames #1 in a darker aqua.

Inked up edges, used Impression Plates on the white (canvas) and the Aqua Mist card base (polka dot), added ribbon and a button with twine.

OK, back to grading... blech. Thanks for looking and as always, thanks PTI for the fun challenge! :)

Make it Monday: Fun Foam!

Heather Nichols has issued the new Make It Monday challenge for the week - incorporate fun foam into your stamping project! I loved the example she showed of stamping with the fun foam - a custom stamp from any die that you own. I have actually done this before - a very long time ago - so I'm glad that this challenge reminded me of the fun technique!

I started by die-cutting the Fillable Frame #4 from foam and stamping it. I added the frame from the new FF Additions set in darker shade of aqua, and a sentiment from the additions set in black. I love that I can get the look of the FF die cut and the frame stamp, all in a single-layer!

Next I used the die and stamps from the new Flower Fusion #1 set to cut the flowers in different colors, and then stamp them in tone-on-tone designs. Then I cut the smallest button from the Buttoned Up #1 collection and stamped with Bitty Background Blocks. After attaching the buttons to the flowers with coordinating twine, I attached the flowers to the card with dimensional foam adhesive.

The flower stems are also from the Flower Fusion set, and that strip of grass is the little grassy bit from Love Lives Here, stamped repeatedly against a Post-It mask to keep the bottom edge straight!

Finally, I added a "sun" cut from foam with a Limitless Layer die, stamped it with the circle image from Tag-its #1, and then masked off a circle in the center and added some dots from Polka Dot Basics 2. I think it came out cute!

Thanks for looking, and thanks Heather for a fun challenge! I already have another idea for it... hopefully I can find some time to make it happen! :)