what, me blog?

Papertrey Ink January Blog Hop!

2012-01-25T10:00:00.000-05:00

Woohoo, it's been a couple of months since I got my act together to participate in the PTI Blog Hop! The challenge this month is:

"Pick your favorite project from 2011 and share it with all of us! To take it a step further, you are also challenged to create a second card that is inspired bythe favorite project you select."

I really liked this challenge, although I can't really say that I could ever pick one favorite project! I have many projects from 2011 that I am proud of and love for different reasons. :) But I picked a card that inspired me, so I'll just say that this is one of my favorites! My inspiration card is this Christmas card:

I like the layout of it, although it's a larger than standard A2 card size. I've been wanting to do a "card set" lately, so I thought this would be a good opportunity. So I used the card above to inspire my design, and picked a color palette of Orange Zest, Spring Moss, Hawaiian Shores and Raspberry Fizz, and set about creating my cards assembly line style. Here is what I came up with:

Here you can see each of the 4 card fronts. I used Harvest Berries on the upper part and Text Style 2 under the Quatrafoil die cut. I varied the sentiment panel (Mat Stack 1 and Mat Stack 4) and also the finishing treatment of ribbon & bow or twine & button. The sentiments are from Little Labels.

I decided as long as I was going all out, why not stamp the envelopes to coordinate also?

Last of all, a long time ago I ordered PTI's Clearlly Creative Card Boxes, and had not even opened the package! Since I had such a complete set, I figured I would decorate a box for it too. I used my brand new (just arrived yesterday) Mat Stack 5 Collection and Oval Limitless Layers dies! I added the simple band to the box and stamped it with Harvest Berries, as well as the white oval.

This was a lot of fun! Thanks for the challenge, PTI, and thanks for looking! :)

Dare to Dream

2012-01-19T15:51:00.000-05:00

This card came about mostly because I sat down with a goal of using Harvest Berries. It's one of those sets (ok, there are probably several others, lol) that I loved when I saw it, I bought it because I had to have it, and I love so many projects that I see with it. But, it just doesn't get used as much as it should! I also wanted to try my new Raspberry Fizz ink and paper, so here it what I ended up with:

I used Aqua Mist paper and stamped Harvest Berries with Hawaiian Shore and then stamped Text Style 2 with Versamark. I added some berries with Raspberry Fizz. For the sentiment focal point, I stamped Harvest Berries again with Aqua Mist, but stamped off first so that it would just be a very subtle silhouette background. The sentiment, from Daydreamer, is then stamped on top with Raspberry Fizz. I used Limitedless Layers circle and scalloped circle dies, and cut and stamped a little stem from Harvest Berries again to stick up from under the focal point. And I did my best to tie a bow with Hawaiian Shores ribbon, but that is definitely NOT my strong suit! LOL!

Some inking, some stitching, and some foam adhesive for a little bit "pop", plus the 3 little gemstones colored with Copics to match, and voila!

Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday: Ghost Masking

2012-01-16T14:51:00.001-05:00

Having the day off means that I already got to try out the new Make It Monday challenge for this week: Ghost Masking! When I saw Betsy Veldman's sample card, I couldn't wait to watch the video and see how she got that cool effect. Now, when I sat down to try it myself and thought about what stamps I was in the mood to play with, I decided to do a little bit of a variation on the technique - sort of a riff on Betsy's method, if you will. :) So here is my card:

I used the Mat Stack 1 Collection for the frame. However, since this isn't a full bleed stamp, rather than die-cut for the mask, I used my trusty craft knife to carefully cut, after stamping on vellum, right around the thicker line. Then I stamped Year of Flowers: Sweet Peas, with the inside mask in place. I switched to the outside "negative space" mask and stamped again, stamping off first as in Betsy's video. Now, since this isn't a solid stamp like Betsy used, I got out my Copics and set to work. :) In keeping with the "ghosting" technique, I colored the flowers outside the frame with darker Copics from the Raspberry Fizz range, and greens for the leaves. I used lighter Copics for the flowers and leaves inside the frame, and then got out some very light blues (B0000 and B00) to fill in the white space inside the frame - I like the "glass like" effect that it adds.

The "hello friend" sentiment is from Little Labels... and I can't begin to say how terrifying it was to stamp it, lol! After spending an hour or two with the Copic coloring, it was very scary to know that if I messed up that sentiment, the whole thing was basically garbage - but it came out ok! :)

I rounded the corners and embossed with the Canvas impression plate, then cut the Raspberry Fizz panel and embossed it with the Sunshine impression plate. Added the ribbon and button, and popped up both panels with dimensional adhesive on a white base.

I'm very happy with how this turned out - thanks Betsy for teaching a lovely new technique! And thanks to you for stopping by and peeking at my blog!

Make it Monday: Background from Border Dies

2012-01-10T13:36:00.002-05:00

This week's Make it Monday challenge is to use border dies to create a background. I decided to pull out my XL Rickrack die and create a multi-colored background by layering the die-cuts like "stripes".

My color palette is Canyon Clay, Summer Sunrise, Spring Moss and Spring Rain. I cut several pieces in each color and then adhered them to a white base, but making sure that the rickrack extended on both the top and bottom. Then I trimmed the edges of the whole panel, stamped it with Polka Dot Basics 2 in Versamark, wrapped a Summer Sunrise ribbon around it and adhered it to my kraft card base. The focal point uses Mat Stack 4 (also stamped in Versamark), a Doily Details die and a Limitless Layer circle, stamped with the border from Tag Its #10. The Happy Birthday sentiment is from Little Labels, and I finished things off with a twine-tied Tiny Tag. The Mat Stack is popped up on foam adhesive, and the doily is popped up on the Mat Stack.

Thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday to my sweet boy!

2012-01-09T05:49:00.002-05:00

Eleven years ago today, I got the best promotion ever - to the position of "Mommy"! Ryan has been under the weather since last week with the bad cough & cold that has worked it's way through our house, so we had to reschedule his birthday sleepover that he was looking forward to on Saturday, but I reminded him how nice it will be to have another birthday celebration to look forward to! :)

Here is his birthday card, using Enjoy the Ride. I "borrowed" an idea from a brilliant card by Erin Lincoln to add that cute little doggie driver from Tiny Treats: Valentines! I definitely plan to use that again. I colored the card and dog with Copics, and used a Mat Stack 4 and MS4 Layerz in Lemon Tart and Spring Rain, and then put them on a Canyon Clay panel that was impressed with the By The Numbers plate. The car is popped up with foam adhesive.

The bottom part of the front panel is stamped with BB: Circles. I added the Tiny Tag, twine and button, and the sentiment, also from Enjoy the Ride, on a banner. After I took these photos, I added some diamond glaze to the headlights - a subtle but nice effect.

And here is the birthday boy this morning! He's feeling lousy still, but managed to humor me with a smile for the picture. The lighting was terrible though and the flash didn't help, lol.

Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday: Catch Up Time!

2012-01-05T13:58:00.000-05:00

What a great idea... for the first Make it Monday challenge of the new year, Nichole Heady linked up all 46 MIM challenges that she has posted over the past year, so that you can choose any challenges that you might have missed the first time around. So is it lame that I picked the very last challenge, #46: Folded Tag from Any Die? LOL... I tried to complete #46 the week it was posted, even started it, but the week got away from me and I never finished it. Since Ryan's 11th birthday is next week, I decided to make a fun little folded tag for a birthday gift.

I used Mat Stack 5 as the die to create the folded tag in white, and then cut it again in Aqua Mist for the base of my tag. I cut Mat Stack 2 Layerz in Canyon Clay, and a Limitless Layer in Hawaiian Shores. I stamped with BB: Circles, and used Modern Basics to add a little pizazz to the tips of the MS2. I really wanted to use one of the images in the cute new Tremendous Treats: Valentine, but I masked off the little heart since it is a birthday tag... and let's face it, I'm pushing the boundaries of allowable cuteness for an 11 year old, as it is! ;) LOL! I colored the sweet little dino with Copics and added the "celebrate" from Tag-Its 4 and finished off the front with a button and bakers twine.

On the inside, I wanted to mimic the cute "dino-mite" sentiment from the original Tiny Treats: Valentine, so I used a carefully masked-up sentiment from Make a Wish for the "hope your birthday is", and spelled out "dino-mite" with Fresh Alphabet.

I hope my big boy likes it! Thanks for looking! :)

Christmas Gift Certificate Envelopes

2011-12-30T21:10:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to sort of wrap up blogging some of my Christmas projects, so I have two Gift Certificate envelopes to share today.For the first one, I needed to give a rather unattractive certificate that I printed from email, so I wanted to make a nice fancy envelope for it. I created a custom envelope from white cardstock, and then decorated both the front and back. I used Tremendous Treats: Christmas, Winterberry die-cuts, and a Tiny Tag. Here is the front:

On the back, I added a Doily Details die-cut and a tag that I stamped with an image from Winterberry, after masking the lower part to add the sentiment from Tiny Tags: Christmas. The tag is only adhered to the top part of the envelope, and then I attached a glue dot to the bottom portion, after pressing it against my hand several times to reduce the stickiness. Hopefully the recipients are able to open the flap without too much effort! :)

The other envelope I made was for the boys! For Christmas, we hooked their Wii up to wifi - something they have requested in the past - and also gave them a Wii Points card so that they could download some games. I made a "certificate" up to tell them that the Wii was now online, and attached the Wii Points card to it. This is the envelope I made I hold it, using Tremendous Treats: Christmas, Background Basics: Christmas, a Tiny Tag, and some Spellbinders and PTI dies.

I want to share the back also, as I really like how it worked out. I wanted to just tuck the top flap down into a slit, so before I adhered the envelope together, I put it through my Big Shot machine with a Spellbinders die, just going in enough to cut the decorative slit on the lower flap. Then I reversed to crank it back out. I really like how it turned out!

As always, thanks for looking! And have a safe and happy New Year!

Merry Christmas - and some Christmas cards!

2011-12-25T14:01:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas! Just a quickie drive-by post to share a few more Christmas cards. These first two are very similar, but a changed out the sentiment and a couple of details for some variety. I just love how they turned out. Nativity Silhouettes is definitely a Christmas favorite! :)

And finally, a card using Winterberry, sentiment from Stylish Sentiments: Holiday, and a some Background Basics: Christmas peeking through the Quatrafoil die cut on the lower half of the card. I also used Waltzingmouse Stamps Very Vintage Labels 18.

Thanks for looking! Off to check on the ham! :)

Christmas Tags

2011-12-23T22:03:00.001-05:00

Merry-almost-Christmas-Eve!! Since I've been doing a lot of wrapping in the past couple of days, I thought I'd share some of the tags that I made this year. Tags are so fun, since you can do several in a short time "assembly-line" style, and build up a nice stash to have on hand. I used to hide gift tags on the back of the packages, but now that I make my own, I put them right on the front where they can be part of the package decor! :)

I recently got my first couple of Waltzingmouse sets: Labels 18 and Labels 4. LOVE THEM! I can't wait to get some more WMS sets... I already have a few picked out! So I used a few of the frames in those two sets, along with a lot of PTI, of course: Tremendous Treats: Christmas; Tiny Treats: Christmas; and Winterberry. Also used PTI and Spellbinders dies.

Thanks for looking!

a couple of Christmas cards!

2011-12-21T07:19:00.000-05:00

Wow, my poor blog has been so neglected! I have been taking photos of the Christmas cards I've been making but just haven't stopped to blog them. So I'll try to share some cards and tags over the next few days.

Two cards to share today! This first one is a very simple card with Nativity Silhouettes. I just love this set. I used the new Mega Mat Stack 3 for the focal point, and popped it up on the patterned paper.

The other card I have to share today used Star of Wonder and the Mat Stack 1 Layerz die. The patterned paper is Echo Park, and the decorative die is from the Spellbinders Fleur De Lis accents set.

I'm going to share a few other cards over the next few days (now that they are in the mail, lol!)... I hope you'll come back to see!

Thanks for visiting and have a very Merry Christmas!

Another Make It Monday: Background from Sentiment Stamps

2011-11-26T16:20:00.001-05:00

I managed to get another card finished for the current Make It Monday challenge! I used a combination of images and sentiments from Nativity Silhouettes and Star of Wonder. I just love how these two sets coordinate so beautifully together! The card base and the rectangular panel are Soft Stone, and I sponge-inked the edges of the panel with light blue and then a darker blue just on the edge. I stamped the sentiment a few times, stamping off each time first.

I stamped the sunburst in dark blue on the panel and on the Spring Rain half-and-half strip, both times stamping off lightly first. I also stamped it using versamark ink on Spring Rain cardstock, and then stamped the circular image in dark blue on top, and punched it out. I lined up the panel, the strip and the circle so that the sunburst images were lined up, with the circle popped up on dimensional adhesive.

I matted the panel on Enchanted Evening, added the scalloped patterned paper strip (Echo Park), and some gems.

Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday: Backgrounds with Sentiment Stamps

2011-11-23T12:26:00.001-05:00

I was so tickled with myself to get a card made for this week's Make It Monday challenge ON MONDAY... but then, it took me until now to actually get the photo uploaded and blog it, so I guess no gold star for me after all. LOL! But I do really love this challenge - did you see Betsy's card?? Oh my goodness, it's gorgeous! I decided to go with my Winterberry stamp set, which I got last month, but just got the dies for it when they came out this month. I layered the background with both images and sentiments from the set, stamping off lightly first to get a subtle image. I also stamped a few of the small sprigs, and the berry cluster from Harvest Berries, without stamping off first. I think the variation in the "boldness" of the stamping adds a lot of wonderful depth.

I popped up the die-cut tree, colored with Copics, and added a sweet Little Bitty Bird and a Tiny Tag 2. The patterned paper background is from Echo Park, and the Mega Mat Stack 1 is on Fine Linen, with the tree, bird and tag all cut from Vintage Cream, and a Vintage Cream card base.

Both the tree + bird, and the mat stack, are popped up on dimensional adhesive.

Thanks for looking! :)

Another Make it Monday - Background Building

2011-11-06T11:32:00.002-05:00

Just a quickie post to share another card I finished for this week's Make it Monday challenge - background building. I wanted to use my new Winterberry set, and I thought using the hanging ornaments in the set would add some nice punches of color!

The ornaments, leaves, and berries are colored with Copics. I also added the little 3-dot berry grouping from Harvest Berries to fill in some of the white space and balance the design a bit. I used the Holly Jolly die to cut the leaves from felt for the raised sentiment panel, and added some little gems for a touch of sparkle.

Thanks for looking! :)

Make it Monday: Multi-stamp Background Building

2011-11-01T12:22:00.000-05:00

Wow, my poor neglected blog! October was a really busy month! But I am so happy that today I managed to find a little bit of crafty time, and completed a card for Nichole Heady's latest Make It Monday challenge, which is to build a background pattern using multiple stamps. Seeing as how it's November 1st and I have not yet used my new Autumn Acorns set, I thought that a pretty fall-leaf background was a perfect plan. I combined the leaves (stamped in Orange Zest, Summer Sunrise and Terracotta Tile, and berries from Harvest Berries in Pure Poppy) with a small image from Turning a New Leaf (stamped in Spring Moss), a sentiment from Tag-Its #7, and a Little Label.

I die-cut and stamped the double leaf and adhered it with the sentiment on a Dark Chocolate fillable frame #1 die-cut, popped it up on the background and added some twine and a Dark Chocolate button to finish it off.

Thanks for another great challenge, PTI, and thanks for looking!

Another Make it Monday - thick chipboard accent

2011-10-03T05:57:00.001-05:00

Super quick post because... ack... I just realized that I never posted this card I did last week, for the Make It Monday challenge! My thick chipboard accent is that sweet little Fly Away plane. Thanks for looking! :)

Make It Monday: layered chipboard accent

2011-09-30T17:40:00.000-05:00

A fun Make It Monday challenge this week: create a thick chipboard accent by layering several die-cuts of thin chipboard (which the thin dies can cut!). I just got some new Echo Park 6x6 pads, including the lovely Victoria Garden. I combined that with a piece of the new PTI Candy Cane Prints paper, which I cut at an angle so that the diagonal stripes would be vertical.

My thick chipboard element is the Turning a New Leaf accent, with a top layer of Simply Chartreuse, stamped with versamark ink. I also used the Layerz Mat Stack 2 die, the Limitless Layers collection, Tag-its 3, and a sentiment from Take 3 Summer, to complete the focal point.

The focal point panel is layered over the thick chipboard stem, and then popped up on dimensional foam adhesive.

Thanks for looking!

Happy FIRST birthday to my sweet and beautiful niece!

2011-09-18T07:41:00.003-05:00

My adorable little niece turns ONE today! Happy Birthday Jessica! I used Big Birthday Wishes for this card, along with the By the Number dies and some fun Echo Park patterned paper. My favorite Doily Details die created a pretty layer for the focal point.

I finished the inside too and added that cute little cupcake from Tiny Treats: Birthday. I have to confess, though, that the addition of the cupcake all stemmed from stamper error. I originally stamped the "happy birthday" directly on the inside of the card, but a big blob of ink smudged from the corner of my acrylic block. I HATE THAT! I had to fix it (the front of the card was already completed) so I cut the little white rectangle to stamp the sentiment on, but then felt like it needed something else - voila, cupcake + Copics and problem is solved! :)

Thanks for looking!

Make It Monday: Background from non-Background Stamps

2011-09-05T17:04:00.000-05:00

The newest Make It Monday challenge is to create a custom background by repeated stamping of images that are not intended as backgrounds. I noticed recently that I need to beef up the supply of birthday cards in my stash, so I used the cute little cake image from Tag-Its #1, which I stamped in alternating staggered rows of Orange Zest and Hawaiian Shores. Then I added the repeated "happy birthday" sentiment, also from Tag-Its #1, in green. The "eat cake" sentiment (it seemed the obvious choice, lol) is from 2011 Birthday Tags, and is stamped on a Label Basics circle, along with the coordinating little curly strip from Tiny Treats: Birthday.

I attached the circle to a Doily Details doily, tied on a Tiny Tag, and added a Hawaiian Shores button and twine. The tag is popped up on dimensional adhesive.

Thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday to my OLDER brother! :)

2011-09-03T19:57:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post to share the birthday card that I recently sent to my brother. I just got PTI's Enjoy the Ride - one of those sets that I have seen around for a while but it just finally "caught my eye" and I suddenly had to have it! LOL! This is the first card I made with it. I think it's going to be a very versatile set! Rather than use one of the fun license plate phrases that came in the set, I used Simple Alphabet to put together my own license plate message. ;)

I also just Polka Dot Basics 2 on the background, and the Cane Print impression plate.

Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday: Colored Pencils

2011-08-30T18:08:00.001-05:00

I got a little bit of time today, so figured I would tackle the newest Make it Monday Challenge on Nichole Heady's blog! Jenn Ellefson did a great tutorial on using colored pencils, something I've never really experimented with. I thought that the boys had some cheapo colored pencils in a big art set that they have had for years, so I went to find them, and lo and behold - found a 24 box of Prismacolor pencils instead! WOOHOO! I don't have any of the little blending tools that Jennifer used, so I improvised: I cut a Q-tip's cotton tip off and trimmed the stick a bit so that it came to sort of a dull point, and dipped that in Baby Oil to blend the pencils. It wasn't perfect (I'm sure the proper tool would work better), but it definitely did the job!

I used the flowers from Summer Jar Fillers in shades of pinks and purples with the stems from Daydreamer and a Little Label for the sentiment. I added a teeny little dot of Liquid Pearls to the center of each flower.

Thanks for the great video, Jenn and PTI! I still love my Copics, but I think I will be reaching for colored pencils again from time to time! :)

Papertrey Ink August 2011 Blog Hop!

2011-08-25T17:17:00.000-05:00

GO, ME! I didn't think I was going to get to participate in this month's blog hop, because I had not had a chance to do a project for it yet. But, I managed to squeeze in some stamping time today and made a card! Yay! The challenge this month was to use the inspiration photo that Nichole provided. (See the bottom of this post for the photo.) The things that jumped out at me from the photo were:

1. The colors pink and green

2. The pretty flowers

3. The jar - maybe since I just recently started to aquire the Friendship Jar and Fillers series! :)

4. The pattern on the inside of the case - which I don't think is exactly damask, but it reminded me of damask, and screamed out for me to use Damask Designs! :)

I was also eager to use the new Bloom Builders #3 die, so I made my flowers out of that, using Daydreamer for the stems.

The flowers are Raspberry Fizz and Hibiscus Burst. I used Tiny Tags for the sentiment, and added another small single image from Damask Design to tie it into the background.

The original inspiration photo is below. Thanks for looking!

sending smiles

2011-08-18T12:31:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post today, to share this card that I made a while back when I wanted to play with my Iconic Images set. I added flowers to the pitcher using Peaceful Garden greenery, and the little flower from Tag Its 3. The sentiment is from Little Labels.

Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday: Glitter Die Borders

2011-08-15T14:47:00.000-05:00

OK, I'm not gonna lie. When I saw the topic that Erin Lincoln came up with for this week's Make It Monday technique on Nichole Heady's blog, I was not sure whether I wanted to try it. Glitter and I typically do not get along very well! But, I had an idea of where to go with it, and after all, the whole point of the MIM challenges is to try new things, right? :) So off I went!

Just today, I got Damask Designs in the mail, as part of a lovely prize package from a blog giveaway I won at Are You On the Fence, so I was eager to put it to use! So I used the Mat Stack 5 die, splitting it in half to use on either side of the card front. I liked the Hawaiian Shores and Smokey Shadow color combo, but I wanted another pop of color so added the Eyelet Lace border to each edge in Raspberry Fizz.

Here is a close-up look at the glitter border, and the bit of bling I added to the sentiment (Creative Charms clear gems colored with a Copic to match). The sentiment is from the Round and Round anniversary set, and is on a banner from Banner Builder.

Well, thanks for the challenge Erin, and for pushing me outside of my comfortable little box! :) I'm not sure that I'm converted to a glitter fan, but it was fun to pull it out for this project, and I'm very happy with the result.

Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday: Custom Copic Striped Ribbon

2011-08-14T13:39:00.000-05:00

The most recent Make It Monday video from Nichole Heady is all about making your own custom-striped ribbon using Copic markers. I have to say, Nichole makes this look so easy in her video! And although I've done it once or twice before where I completely colored the ribbon, I found it really difficult to get a crisp, clean stripe when I tried it here. She suggests using grosgrain or satin ribbon, and I was using PTI's satin, so maybe grosgrain would be the best choice. But anyway, after a few tries, I was reasonably happy with the result!

As I mentioned in my last post, I just recently started to acquire some of the Friendship Jar series, so I was eager to use the Hydrangea bouquet from the Summer Fillers. I used Mat Stack 4 for the focal point, with the sentiment coming from Little Labels, the bee from Tag-Its 3, and the flight trail from the Summer Fillers set. I used a strip from Half and Half in versamark on Summer Sunrise cardstock for the striped accent strip under the focal point. The hydrangeas are colored with Copics (mostly from the Raspberry Fizz and Hibiscus Burst collections).

I also added a little dot of Liquid Pearls to the center of each of the flowers.

Thanks for looking, and as always, thanks Nichole for another great MIM challenge!

sending smiles in a friendship jar

2011-08-12T09:51:00.000-05:00

I finally caved and started buying the Friendship Jar series, LOL! I've always thought they were fun, but resisted "going down that road"... until now. I started with the original set and the Spring Fillers. Ohhhh, how I have coveted that beautiful tulip bouquet! So of course, that was the first thing I did. I also used the new Little Labels set and die. I wanted to keep the sentiment small and not cover up the flowers that I worked so hard to color!

Check out the striped lower half of the card base... look familiar? I used an image from Half and Half, stamped across the bottom, to add that pattern.

Here is a close-up of the flowers, which I colored with Orange Zest and Summer Sunrise copics (for the most part).

Thanks for looking!

a difficult sympathy card

2011-08-07T08:32:00.000-05:00

Many of you who are regular readers of my blog saw this post last month, about the tragic loss of my friend Chris Hertel. The card I'm sharing today is the sympathy card that I sent to Chris' family. It was probably the most difficult card I've ever had to make, both because I was unspeakably sad at the need for it, and also because I so wanted it to be absolutely perfect.

I cut the strip from Vintage Cream with a Half and Half die, and then used PTI's Peaceful Garden on the focal point. I love the effect of layering the different images in a very light brown, and then adding the single foliage image in Terracotta Tile, as well as the little butterfly from Postmarks. The sentiment is a combination of Verve's Kind Words and PTI's Round and Round (3rd anniversary set).

I added a strip of Damask Designs paper and a Leafy Vine die-cut border, after using the Woodgrain Impression Plate on the Kraft panel. The three gems are colored with a Copic to match the Spring Rain card base.

I also finished the inside, to echo the front design:

Although this was a heartbreaking card to make, I found solace in thinking, "I think Chris would like this". I hope so. I miss her, and to her family - you continue to be in my thoughts and prayers each day.

A Modern Basics Happy Birthday

2011-08-04T17:53:00.000-05:00

A quickie post tonight! I've had this card loaded for a while, but just haven't gotten around to posting it. I made this shortly after I got Modern Basics. I was playing around, "getting to know" it, and trying to do a fairly clean and simple card. It still ended up with layers, but what can I say... I gotta be me! LOL! I just find it very hard to do a one layer card, so maybe I should just quit trying! :)

I stamped the pattern and colored in the solid blocks with Copics. I cut out the strip, and the sentiment, which is popped up on the card base. I added some Fancy Flourishes in Fresh Snow and a bit of bling to finish it off.

By the way, while you're here, you might notice that I recently added the Networked Blogs widgit over there in the right sidebar! I'm still figuring out how Networked Blogs works, but I know I LOVE it for the blogs that I follow! I would love it if you would sign up follow me. :)

And as always, thanks for looking!

Make it Monday: Decreasing Aperatures

2011-08-02T16:28:00.000-05:00

I really liked Jenn Ellefson's technique in this week's Make It Monday challenge - Decreasing Aperatures, which is basically a fancy way to say "cut windows from bigger to smaller"! :) I got a chance to play around today and I really love the result. Here is my card:

OK, here are the layers. In the orange patterned paper (from Echo Park) I cut the Mat Stack 4 shape. I cut the pinked-edge Limitless Layers die from Orange Zest and adhered that to Hawaiian Shores cardstock, on which I had stamped the Mat Stack 4 striped image in Versamark. Then I cut the 1.75" circle through both layers. That whole panel is then popped up on the card base. Now, on the base, I adhered an orange zest "frame" (I cut the inside with a square nestie so just the border would show), and I also adhered a small square of the polka-dot Echo Park paper. Then I carefully cut the Love Lives Here house shape from the card base.

Take a look at the inside of the card - I die cut the house again on white and stamped the images on it. Then I adhered it through the card front to be perfectly aligned, and stamped the little heart in the opening - one last aperature! Added the grass and the inside sentiment for a nice little greeting.

Now, if I may, I want to take a minute to mention the front sentiment, because I'm so darn proud of it! LOL!

I knew I wanted something along the lines of "congratulations on your new home" but I don't have that in any of my sentiments. However, one of my favorite sets - Signature Greetings - has a "Congrats on your new little bundle". I stared at it for a second and realized that it wouldn't be hard to selectively ink , which I did by putting scotch tape over the "little bundle" part of the stamp to ink it, then pulling it off before I stamped. For the word "home", I liked the font in Love Lives Here's "my home is wherever you are", and it had the cute little coordinating heart, but it also had that dashed line very close to the text. I decided that rather than trying to mask off the line, I would just incorporate it into the sentiment. I think it grounds the other text nicely!

The three gems at the bottom are from Creative Charms, and I colored them with a Copic marker to match the Hawaiian Shores cardstock.

I'm not sure where this one is going, but I really like how it turned out! thanks for a fun technique, Jenn! I already have another couple of ideas brewing for later this week! :)

And as always, thanks for looking!

happy birthday to you

2011-08-01T17:46:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post to share another birthday card, continuing the theme from yesterday's post (featuring my hubby's card). Today I have another masculine card - this is the one I made for my Dad's birthday earlier this summer. I used Alpha Blocks and dies, and Grunge Me on the patterned paper background. For the letters "you", I used the "kissing" technique to grunge up the solid-fill of the alpha block letters a bit.

Thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday to my hubby!

2011-07-31T10:04:00.000-05:00

Today is Mark's birthday, so once again, he's "2 years older" than me! HAH! I really struggled a bit over this card, and it ended up different from what I had originally pictured, but I'm happy with the result so I guess all is well. :)

I really wanted to use Big Birthday Wishes, which I only recently added to my stash. I have had that fun Tag Sale #4 die for a while, but it has been woefully neglected. It was the perfect size for this sentiment, and I dressed it up by adding the cake image from Tiny Treats: Birthday. I felt like the bottom of the tag needed something... a scroll or medallion or some decorative element, but as I scanned my sets I decided to pull out Modern Basics, which I think worked perfectly.

The little present is from Make A Wish Additions and uses the dies also. Do you notice that subtle striped pattern? That's one of the background strip stamps from Half and Half, done in Versamark! I really like the effect, will definitely need to remember that! Other items used: Spellbinders Lacey Circle die, Stampin Up notebook edge border punch, PTI Argyle Socks patterned paper, cardstock colors Terracotta Tile and Dark Chocolate, Blueberry Sky button.

I finished the inside also, with a sentiment from Big Birthday Wishes, coordinating patterned paper, and the Modern Basics stamps again.

Thanks for looking!

Stamp-a-faire Challenge #10

2011-07-26T07:05:00.000-05:00

Nichole has offered up one last Stamp-A-Faire challenge, and kindly given extra time to get it posted! This last chaellenge is to "add a stamped focal point over a stamped background, all in the same layer!" I just love this challenge, as I've been trying to do more layered stamping.... I love the look!

So I decided to start my layering with BB: Sheet Music, one of my favorite sets, and it hasn't seen the love that it deserves lately. I layered a branch from Little Bitty Bird, and the sweet little birdie, who is popped up on foam adhesive and shaded in just a bit with Copics. I added the sentiment from Make A Wish, again layering it right on top of the focal point.

All of this was stitched onto a kraft panel that I impressed with the woodgrain Impression Plate, then added a strip of Pink Paislee patterned paper, before adhering it to my spring rain card base. I sort of imagine that the music is giving the impression of that sweet Little Bitty Bird singing the "happy birthday to you" to the recipient! :)

Thanks for looking!

Papertrey Ink July Blog Hop: live, laugh, love

2011-07-25T09:45:00.001-05:00

I managed to get a card finished for this month's PTI Blog Hop! This month, Nichole provided us with a gorgeous inspiration photo (see below) and basically said "run with it", lol. I took two elements from the photo to inspire my card: (1) I LOVED those colors! The shades of Hawaiian Shores and Orange Zest jumped out at me, as that is one of my favorite PTI color combos, anyway! (2) That window... what a perfect opportunity, since I've been wanting to make a "window" card with the Alpha Blocks die, ever since I got it!

So, I used some of the Damask Designs patterned paper to pull in the aqua colors, with an Orange Zest card base (die-cut with Edger #1) and accents. I cut the window from Kraft and then used the woodgrain Impression Plate on it, inking with Versamark first to better bring out the texture.

I made the little panel to go behind the window, stamping Gracious Vases images and coloring with Copics. The sentiment is from Fillable Frames #8 and stamped onto a double-ended banner die cut.

Here is the photo:

Thanks for looking!

Summer Card Camp Week 4: Happy Birthday

2011-07-24T11:33:00.000-05:00

This will probably be my last Summer Card Camp card. I used one of the alternate color combos for the week (see below): pink, aqua, green, brown and white. I used Damask Designs patterned paper, Half and Half die with a Flower Fusion flower, grass from Love Lives here, a double ended banner, and a sentiment from Gracious Vases.

Here is the color combo:

Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday: Dry Brushing

2011-07-24T09:21:00.001-05:00

I was excited when I saw the technique for this week's MIM! Back in the day, before I discovered paper crafting, one of my favorite crafts was painting ceramics, and dry brushing is a great technique to get depth and texture in ceramics painting.

For my card, I dry-brushed green paint around the vintage cream focal point panel. Then I stamped it with a grid background stamp from Market Street Stamps using Jenni Bowling Malted Milk ink, which is just dark enough to add that bit of texture without overwhelming.

I then added flowers from Daydreamer in Hibiscus Burst, Summer Sunrise and Terracotta Tile, with all but one stamped and hand-cut so that I could pop them up on dimensional adhesive.

For the sentiment, I die-cut Little Labels and dry-brushed again using a paint color that matched Terracotta Tile. I stamped the frame in Malted Milk again and the sentiment in brown. It's popped up on the focal point, which is matted on Terracotta Tile and then I added the twine, in keeping with the rustic look and feel of the card.

Thanks for looking!

Stamp-a-faire Challenge #3

2011-07-23T14:01:00.000-05:00

I got one more SAF challenge done! (See my last post for my take on Challenge #1.) For Challenge #3, courtesy of Heather Nichols, we were to "punch a window from you card cover and tie ribbon or twine from the window to the side of your card." I had fun die-cutting my little window with a Fillable Frames die, and then using the die again along with Mat Stack 4 to create a "frame".

I added a strip of Spring Moss Bitty Box paper, and a Hibiscus Burst leafy vine die-cut, and stamped the card base in white using Polka Dot Basics 2. The butterflies are from Flutterby Friend, and the little one is popped up on foam adhesive. The sentiment is from the new Little Labels set.

Ahhh, how I wish I could just stay in my comfy, cool basement and stamp the day away working on more of these challenges! Alas, that isn't going to work out, as we are heading to the Pittsburgh Pirates game tonight - sold out! Ah well, hopefully that will be fun too, and the rain will stay away!

Have a good Saturday, and thanks for stopping by!

Stamp-a-faire Challenge #1 + Summer Card Camp Week 4

2011-07-23T10:50:00.001-05:00

I'll admit it: I'm envious beyond words of the PTI friends who are attending the special Stamp-a-faire event in Cincinnati today! Hopefully it will be an annual event and I might get to go next year. :) But in the meantime, Nichole and the DT have challenges that will be posted all day on Nichole's blog, so that we can play along too!

The first challenge is: "Create a project featuring patterned strips that are created with some of your favorite decorative elements." I have had a design element in my head for a while that I thought fit this challenge well, so I pulled out Modern Basics, stamped a pattern, and colored it in. While I was at it, I figured I would use a color combo from Card Camp Week 4, so that my card will be for that challenge also! The color combo (see below) is pink, orange, yellow, blue and purple... wow, definitely brighter colors than my usual palette! But I think they look nice in the Modern Basics motif.

I used a Bitty Box patterned paper for the purple, and Sending You for the sentiment. Also added a banner stamped in white with Polka Dot Basics 2, and three little pearls.

Here is the Card Camp color combo that I used. Thanks for looking!

Summer Card Camp Week 4

2011-07-23T08:32:00.001-05:00

I got a chance to do a few more cards for the last week of Summer Card Camp, so watch for a few posts in the next day or two! Today I'm sharing a pair of cards that both follow one of the bonus color schemes included in Friday's post (see below). This might be a somewhat "loose" interpretation of the colors, as they printed out looking rather different from what I see on my computer screen, lol. I read the combo as green, butter yellow, vintage cream, brown, and another shade of green.

I'm trying to use more patterned paper. I have SO much of it laying around, after all! LOL! I used the new Peaceful Garden, which I'm really loving. I layered several images on the Half & Half die-cut, and added the sweet little butterfly from Postmarks.

Here is the color combo.... like I said, a "loose" interpretation! LOL :)

Thanks for looking!

Summer Card Camp Week 4

2011-07-20T15:05:00.000-05:00

I got some time today to work on a card for this week's Summer Card Camp challenge. The color combo this week is right up my alley! Two shades of blue, two shades of green, and white. I found some patterned papers in my stash from Bella Blvd's Hello, Beautiful line that I thought worked perfectly with the combo. I had a hard time getting the colors correct in the photograph, especially the Spring Moss cardstock that is the card base and the sentiment strip.

I used my new Half & Half set and dies from PTI, with an embossed sentiment from Daydreamer, and the Leafy Vine border die. I added a border at the bottom with a Fiskars border punch. I felt like it needed more blue so I added the 3 little gems near the sentiment.

Thanks for looking!

with a heavy heart

2011-07-18T13:45:00.000-05:00

NOTE: I drafted this blog post yesterday, Sunday, July 17, but decided to hold off on posting it. I am now posting it as-written on Sunday, because it's important to me that it be read as I wrote it on that day.

I have a card to share today and will include it at the end of this post. But today, my post isn't really about the card. It's about the very special friend for whom I made the card. I uploaded the photo a couple of weeks ago, shortly after I made it and sent it to her. I didn't post it here right away because I wanted to make sure she got it first. Last week I got a sweet message from her thanking me for the card.

Although I first "met" my friend Chris through our mutual involvement in the online papercrafting community, it turned out that she lived only about 30 minutes away from me. We eventually met "in real life" and would get together every so often (usually involving food and scrappy shopping).

Chris has been very open about her fight with cancer for the past almost 2 years. She fought it with grace, bravery, and an amazingly positive attitude. It seemed at one point like she had kicked its ass, but then it came back for more, and came back nastier than ever. It was less than a month ago that she told me about her latest battle, but she seemed very positive and upbeat about a new, promising course of treatment. It was around this time that I made the card below for her. I was so glad to get the note from her that she had gotten it.

The call from a mutual friend came as a complete shock. Chris lost her cancer battle this morning. I'm a bit sketchy on the details, but I think that it was an abrupt and premature end that nobody was expecting to come so soon. It was a privilege and a pleasure to know Chris and to call her my friend. Throughout her ordeal, she displayed such grace and resolve, and at times even managed to face it with humor.

I had been planning to share the card below at some point, but just hadn't gotten around to blogging it yet. I did not expect to be sharing it under these circumstances, but as I have been thinking about little else but her today, it seemed like a small but fitting tribute. The card was intended to encourage her and let her know how much my family and I have been thinking of her and praying for her, and I hope that it served that purpose and brought a bright spot to her day.

Products are PTI (Beautiful Blessings, Daydreamer, woodgrain Impression plate).

I will miss you, Chris. You were an amazing and talented woman, a devoted mother and wife, and a good friend. You were taken from us too soon. Heaven definitely scored an angel today. ♥

Make It Monday: Pocket with Edger Dies

2011-07-11T18:11:00.001-05:00

I love love love the technique that Dawn showed us in the newest Make It Monday video on Nichole's blog! I couldn't wait to try it. I used Out of this World for the "theme" and attached a rocket to the little message tag to pull it up out of the pocket. I added those fun grungey-ish stars to the front of the pocket from Est. 1776.

But notice the top edge of my pocket? That isn't an edger die.... that's Mat Stack 5! I wanted to vary the shape of the top edge and the front edge for added interest... and because I just LOVE Mat Stack 5. But this presented an engineering problem, as I wanted to use the "positive" shape of the die, not the negative shape, but only cut one edge. A-HA! Light bulb moment! (They are few and far between, lol.) I lined up my Spring Rain cardstock carefully on the top edge of the die, and ran it through my Big Kick just far enough to cut that top edge. Then I reverse cranked it right back out, and voila - a Mat Stack 5 edge, right where I wanted it!

I attached the rocket on the tag so that the flames would stick out over the top of the pocket, and added the sentiment to the tag along with a Fillable Frame.

The front sentiment "thank you" is from a Verve set, and the "friend" is from Flutterby Friend. I also used Polka Dot Basics 2 for the large dot background on Lemon Tart, and Geometrics for the grid at the bottom. The eyelet border die in Enchanted Evening is the border and Edgers 1 made the edge on the front of the pocket.

Thanks for looking!

thank you cards: Summer Card Camp Week 2

2011-07-10T07:54:00.000-05:00

Here is another post for Week 2 of Summer Card Camp. This time I made a few thank you cards with the color combo, using Outlines Alphabet and coloring with Copics. I also used a different impression plate on each one, and different borders from the Banner Borders die. The "you" is from Verve Friendly Phases.

Thanks for looking! :)

just a note: Summer Card Camp Week 2 (again!)

2011-07-07T22:37:00.001-05:00

Quickie post... I finished this card a couple of days ago but just got around to taking a pic today. This is my 2nd card for the Week 2 Summer Card Camp color combo.

I used my Delightful Doilies set and die, and colored with Copics. Also used the Sunshine Impression Plate and the Eyelet Border die, and the Anniversary set Botanical Silhouettes for the sentiment.

Thanks for looking!

a Two-for-One Monday: PTI Make It Monday & Card Camp Week 2!

2011-07-04T16:13:00.000-05:00

I was thinking about taking a nap this afternoon, but instead, I ended up at my craft table! Since there was a great new challenge for PTI's Make it Monday, and also a great new color combo for Summer Card Camp, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone! :)

Here is the new color combo:

And the MIM technique, linked above, is basically to use re-inkers and craft foam to make your own multi-color inkpad to ink a single stamp in multiple colors. COOL! (What WILL that Betsy Veldman think of NEXT??)

So instead of inking up an image with multiple elements, I decided to use the technique to get a "gradient" inking effect. I used Pure Poppy, Orange Zest (PTI) and Mango Madness (Versamagic) and inked up the foam so that the colors were just touching at the edges. Then I used Daydreamer to stamp the gradient-type flowers. I also blended Simply Chartruese and Spring Moss on foam to stamp the stems, leaves and grass. I used the first color-blend to stamp the sentiment from Think Big Favorites #2, and added the word "friend" from Little Bitty Bird.

I stamped my Summer Sunrise card base in Fresh Snow ink using Polka Dot Basics 2, and then added a strip of Spring Moss Bitty Dots paper matted on a strip of Pure Poppy Cardstock. I layered a block of Simply Chartreuse cardstock and then popped the focal point up on foam adhesive.

Here is a close-up of the multi-colored stamping:

Thanks for looking!

just for you friend

2011-07-04T14:00:00.000-05:00

Just a quickie post today to share these cards that I made to include with the prizes I sent out for my recent blog giveaway. I really love how the focal point panels turned out, using the new Daydreamer set. I'll link up everything else below.

Thanks for looking!

SUPPLIES:
Stamps: Daydreamer, Flutterby Friend, Tag-It's 3, Boy Basics: Frog Hop, All About You.
Die: Wonderful Words

one more for Summer Card Camp - week 1: Window card

2011-07-02T06:51:00.001-05:00

I managed to get one more card done for Week 1 of Summer Card Camp! I was eager to try a window card, after Jennifer did a technique video about it. I've been wanting to try it, and have a big stack of acetate sheets that I've saved from my PTI stamp sets! It took me a couple of attempts to get a result that I was happy with. The first time, I used one of the Fillable Frames dies, which made a great little window. But then, I tried to hand-cut a frame around the cut-out, and it was NOT working out! So I started over, and used a couple of nesties this time.

The orange and blue patterned papers are Echo Park, and the purple is PTI. I also used Think Big Favorites #2 for the large sentiment, and the "You're the best!" is from Flower Fusion #5.

I can't wait to see what's in store for week 2 of Card Camp! Thanks for looking!

baby boy card - Echo Park & PTI

2011-07-01T17:00:00.000-05:00

Today I want to share this sweet little new baby boy card. When I saw the airplane pattern in Echo Park's Little Boy line, I immediately thought of Papertrey Ink's Fly Away set and wanted to try to pair them up. All of the pattern paper is from Echo Park's Little Boy, except for the clouds which is from the Echo Park 6x6 Summer Days paper pad. The "baby boy" is from Verve's To The Moon, and the "on your" is selectively inked (with the help of some scotch tape!) from PTI's Make a Wish. Also, instead of using the "congratulations" sentiment in Fly Away, I borrowed the one in Tag It's 4, and just curved it on the block to fit the plane's banner. I liked the font style better, and I also preferred it because it doesn't have an exclamation point at the end, which I thought worked better here.

I added lots of stitching and the sentiment on a PTI die-cut cloud. The cloud, plane and banner are all popped up on foam adhesive.

Thanks for looking!

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-29T08:57:00.000-05:00

OK, I know that Father's Day was a couple of weeks ago! I promise, my cards were on time... I just haven't gotten around to posting any of them until now! :) This is the card that I made for my daddy:

I used some of the PTI Argyle Socks patterned paper, which has a really nice selection of patterns for masculine cards! Also used Alpha Blocks set and die, Label Basics set and die, and a Fillable Frame, along with some buttons and twine, the Woodgrain Impression Plate, and the Edgers #1 die. And I stitched! I love stitching on cards and layouts, and would do it SO much more if only I had a thread fairy to change my thread and bobbin on my machine, lol! ;) But I'm trying not to be so lazy. :)

Both the label and the Fillable Frame are popped up with foam adhesive.

I gave my husband two Father's Day cards, but I never took a photo of one of them, so I need to track it down and get a pic so I can post those. :)

Thanks for looking!

Summer Card Camp Week 1

2011-06-27T21:39:00.000-05:00

Summer Card Camp began today! Our week 1 color combo is definitely out of my comfort zone! Check it out:

I think the purple threw me off the most. I'm not a huge purple fan. But luckily, I did get the new Damask Designs patterned paper in the latest PTI release, and it includes a Royal Velvet pattern (I think I just might even buy a package of the cardstock in my next order.... gasp... did I just say that?). :) So I pulled out a sheet of that, long with some Hibiscus Burst, Orange Zest, Spring Rain and White. Here's what I ended up with:

I used Polka Dot Basics 2 to add the fun dot pattern to the orange. The sentiment is from Gracious Vases, the circle tag is from Birthday Tags and the cake is from Tiny Treats: Birthday. Dies used are Doily Details, banner, and Edgers #1. The banner and tag are popped up on dimensional adhesive. I added some stitching (I'm trying to do that more often!) and gems to finish things off.

I can't wait to see whats in store for tomorrow! I've already pulled some papers to try this color combo again. Thanks for looking!

Make It Monday: Polaroid Two-Step Masking

2011-06-27T15:14:00.000-05:00

I've been on a roll and gotten quite a bit of stamping done in the past couple of days! Could it have something to do with the fact that: (a) Vacation Bible School, which I spent every spare minute on the past couple of weeks is over, and (b) I'm in denial about the fact that I start teaching a summer trig class a week from tomorrow? Whatever it is, I'll take it! I couldn't wait to tackle this week's Make It Monday, using Nichole's "Polaroid Two-Step Masking" technique. What a fun way to make a focal point!

I started to play around with this and was using kraft cardstock and white ink for my focal point panel, just like Nichole does in her video. But as I zeroed in on what I wanted for the focal image, I decided to try it with white cardstock and light blue ink. I really love how it turned out!

After masking and creating the blue frame, I masked the frame and stamped the rainbow and small balloon, then colored them both with Copics. Then I masked the rainbow and stamped the sun and rays. I die-cut and colored the larger balloon, and cut and textured the cloud with the Sunshine IP. The sentiment is from Vintage Picnic, and all the other stamps are from Up, Up and Away. Cardstock colors are Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, and white.

Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday: Reverse Masking

2011-06-26T15:11:00.000-05:00

I finished a card for this week's Make It Monday challenge a couple of days ago, but just realized that I'd better it posted since the new challenge will be up tomorrow! The challenge is reverse masking - essentially, using the negative space of the stamped image as a mask. Here is my card:

After cutting the mat stack 5 shape, I used the long banner from Banner Builder to create the lines. Then I masked with Post-It notes on the lines, sponged in the "shelf" with blue ink, and added images from Grunge Me with Fresh Snow ink. Next, I stamped the vases outlines and solids from Gracious Vases, and created a reverse mask for each vase shape. Then I masked and one by one applied patterns from Text Style, Polka Dot Basics and Geometrics backgrounds sets. I added fillers from Gracious Vases, Fancy Flourishes and Sending You, and the sentiment from Gracious Vases. I popped it all up and attached a loop of ribbon (Terracotta Tile and Summer Sunrise) and a button, and added some stitching and layered it all on the new Damask Designs paper, Spring Rain and Summer Sunrise cardstock.

Thanks for looking! :)

Blog Giveaway WINNERS!!

2011-06-26T09:11:00.000-05:00

Thank you to everyone who entered to win my first ever blog giveaway! (You can see the original giveaway post here.) After numbering all of your comments, I used Random.org to generate the prize winners.

First I drew for the Echo Park Paper Pad, Summer Days. Ohhhhh, this is such a fun pad of paper!

And the winner is....

Did you ever wonder if Random.org ever generates the first or last number on the list?? This time it did - Jen's was the last comment to post, lol! Congratulations, Jen! I hope you enjoy the paper!

And finally, the drawing for the amazing Papertrey Ink Anniversary Set Botanical Silhouettes:

And the winner is...(insert drumroll here):

Congratulations, Gina! I know you will love this set, and I can't wait to see what you create with it!

Jen and Gina, please email me (link in my top right sidebar) with your mailing address so I can get your prizes out to you!

Thank you again to everyone for playing along, and for your kind comments. I hope you'll continue to visit my blog!

hello, friend

2011-06-15T20:31:00.000-05:00

Just a quickie post, since I've been neglecting the blog lately! The boys got out of school and suddenly it seems like we are very busy with "summer vacation" stuff, lol!

I have to say that this is one of my favorite cards in a long time. I used PTI's Postmarks and Grunge me, with the Think Big Favorites sentiment. The background panel is sponged and then I used the lines-and-circles image from Grunge Me with a very light touch. I think it sort of looks like a foggy mist.

Thanks for looking, and don't forget to comment on this post for my Blog Giveaway, if you haven't entered yet! :)

my first ever BLOG GIVEAWAY!! :)

2011-06-06T06:26:00.001-05:00

Who doesn't love a blog giveaway?? Well, I've always wanted to do one but never have, so I'm going to try to make this a good one! First of all, there are TWO prizes up for grabs! But I'll get to the prizes in a minute... first, I want to share a card!

This card uses the new Papertrey Ink Anniversary set, Botanical Silhouettes. This set is not available for purchase from PTI, but was only available as a bonus based on purchases from February 2010 - February 2011. I was, er, uhm, well... shall we say.... a good enough customer to have earned some extra sets! ;)

The flowers + fence panel here was inspired by this lovely card from Laurie. Along with Botanical Silhouettes, I used the new Beautiful Blessings, and the picket fence die. Of course, there's a little Tiny Tag on there, I love those little tags as a sweet finishing touch on so many cards, and I really loved Laurie's idea of tying the tag to the fence!

The fence was cut from kraft cardstock, and then I ran it through the woodgrain impression plate which was inked, letter-press style, with Versamark ink. It gives just that little extra little bit of oomph to the impression to add a little more texture.

OK, now that the preliminaries are finished, let's get to....

the giveaway!

Like I said above, I managed to earn some extra PTI Anniversary sets, so I knew that I wanted to do a blog giveaway for one of my extra sets! So here is Prize #1: Botanical Silhouettes!

You can see the whole set, and also the amazing inspiration from the PTI Design Team in the gallery, here. And for even more amazing projects, check out Nichole Heady's work with the set on her blog, here.

BUT WAIT.... I know that many of my blog visitors are my fellow PTI-obsessed stampers who have already earned their own anniversary set (or two... or... more ;) and I don't want to leave you all out! So I'm going to also give away a 2nd prize to a separate winner, this fun and colorful 6x6 Echo Park paper pad, perfect for the summer days ahead!

And in both cases, I may have a few other little surprise embellishments and goodies to include as well!

HOW TO ENTER: just leave a comment below and tell me your favorite Papertrey Ink stamp set (even if you don't own it...yet!), and please let me know in your comment if you already have (or will be getting) the anniversary set! In that case, I will only include you in the random drawing for the Echo Park paper pad. International friends are welcome to enter, BUT please understand that I reserve the right to substitute a $10 PTI gift certificate, if shipping to your country turns out to be cost-prohibitive (or, in the case of the stamp set, to ship the stamps to you without the original packaging). :)

DEADLINE TO ENTER: 11:59pm Eastern Time, Saturday June 25. I will post the winner on my blog by noon on Monday June 27. Good luck, and thanks for visiting my blog!

Make It Monday: Cracked Glass technique

2011-05-31T10:35:00.000-05:00

This week's Make It Monday challenge is to use the cracked glass technique as demonstrated by Heather Nichols and the great video tutorial. I have to admit that I struggled a bit with this one and pitched my first couple of attempts, but I'm finally happy with this result, using the new Year of Flowers stamp collection:

The "many thanks" sentiment is from Fillable Frames #1. I used the Take Three die, first to cut the "windows" from the kraft panel, and then to cut the squares from Vintage Cream, which I stamped with the YOF images, colored with Copics, and then applied the cracked glass technique to. I stamped the sentiment on the kraft panel, and then use the woodgrain impression plate, inked with a lighter brown ink for a letterpress effect. It is popped up on foam adhesive, on the Bella Blvd. patterned paper panel.

The Tiny Tags set and die always seems to be perfect for that missing finishing touch. I tied it on with some PTI twine, after applying the cracked glass technique to the tag as well.

Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday: Sympathy Cards

2011-05-28T15:54:00.000-05:00

The latest Make it Monday challenge from Nichole Heady is to make a sympathy card. This challenge is a great one, since many people struggle with (or avoid altogether!) making sympathy cards. I think it is one of the "must have" card types for my stash, though.

I took the challenge as an opportunity to put my new 2010 PTI anniversary set to use as well. The Botanical Silhouettes set is so classic and timeless, and I thought the soft, sweet images and lovely font would work well for a sympathy card.

I added a little "ribbon" of Modern Basics behind the focal point panel, and some twine and a button.

Thanks for looking!

Papertrey Ink May Blog Hop: Flowers!

2011-05-25T08:28:00.000-05:00

If you are looking for an astounding amount of floral inspiration, just check out the links for the May PTI Blog Hop! The theme for the month is flowers. PTI has some amazing flower sets, but I decided to take a little bit of a different direction, and make a flower out of a Delightful Doily - especially fun since I just recently purchased the coordinating dies!

I sponged my background using Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest and Pure Poppy inks, working from the center outward. I colored my doily with Copics, using shades of orange and Hawaiian Shores, and then created a center using the frame and sentiment from Tag-Its #1.

I "double-stamped" the stem from Flower Fusion #1, added the bee from Tag-Its 3, the flight trail from Boy Basics: Frog Hop, the "friend" from Flutterby Friends and grass from Love Lives Here.

Both the flower and the flower center are popped up on dimensional adhesive for added fun! :)

Thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday Merry - Blog Hop!

2011-05-22T13:53:00.000-05:00

This is special Blog Hop post to wish a very happy birthday to a sweet friend from the Papertrey Ink forum, Merry. She has been through a rough patch lately so another forum friend, Taheerah organized this little surprise to lift Merry's spirits and brighten her day a bit!

So here is my card, posted in honor of Merry! I recently got the Label Basics set and dies and was eager to try them out. I've also had Modern Basics for about a month and have not put it to very good use. I also used two different Floral Fusion sets for the flower, and the sentiment is from Tag-Its #1. PTI colors are Hawaiian Shores and Orange Zest.

The flower is popped up on foam adhesive, and the tag it is on is also popped up.

Thanks Taheerah for putting this hop together, and Merry, I hope that you have been able to find a little bit of joy and sunshine today!

congrats to you card

2011-05-18T10:32:00.000-05:00

This is a card I made for a friend and colleague who recently got a promotion! I didn't have any "job" themed stamps, so I went with a general congratuations card.

The patterned papers are Pink Paislee (orange) and Echo Park (green). I used Papertrey Ink's Alpha Blocks, Fillable Frame #4 and the Additions set, All About You, and BB: Text Style 2.

The block letters are on foam adhesive, and the layered on the Frame tag and doily die-cut, and again popped up for dimension.

Thanks for looking!

still Making it Monday! another boy birthday card

2011-05-11T16:09:00.000-05:00

Can you tell that I've been getting in more time than usual at my craft table lately? Ahhh, how I love May! Spring semester is over so I'm not teaching until I start a summer course in July... the boys are still in school. That means mama has a quiet house to herself! :) So I'm still working on inking up some of my newest stamps, and my nephew's birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks. So I used the MIM: Selective Inking technique again on this card, with the new Boy Basics: Out of this World stamps and die:

I inked the countdown number strip only down to the 4, and then used the larger "3-2-1- blast off!"sentiment to finish the countdown. The "it's your day" is from Fillable Frames #8 and is stamped on a banner die-cut. I loved coloring that cute little rocket ship and flame tail with Copics!

I also finished the inside, using a stamp from Birthday Tags. I liked that the stars tied in with the stars on the card front, and added some more stars from Out of this World (ok, maybe I went a little overboard... I don't think my nephew will notice, lol!).

Of course, the rocket & flames are popped up on the front, which I think really adds movement. I also embossed the Enchanted Evening front panel and added a border-punched strip along the bottom.

Thanks for looking!

Another Make It Monday - Selective Inking (TOP SECRET Birthday Card!)

2011-05-10T08:48:00.000-05:00

I did another card for this week's Make It Monday Challenge, but shhhhhhhhh this is highly top secret since this card is for Tyler's birthday which is still nearly 2 months away! I didn't set out to make his birthday card, I just wanted to play with my new Train Tracks stamps and dies. But as the idea for the card came together, I just LOVED it so much that I decided to make it for Tyler!

The selective inking is on the "happy birthday" sentiment from Make A Wish, so that I could "balance" the sentiment on the train's crate cargo by splitting up the two words. I added the image from Ribbon Tails to create the "track" for the train, after inking it with black ink but then stamping it off once for a lighter, distressed effect. I used the "8" from Outline Alphabet, and colored it (along with the train cars, smoke puffs, and crates) with Copics.

The train is popped up on foam, of course. :) After completing the front panel, I felt that it was too "bottom heavy" and needed something for balance, to I reached for my Tiny Tags, and added a couple of sweet little sentiments. The circle tag is stamped with a Bitty Background Blocks image, and the star with the coordinating image from Tiny Tags.

Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday + Happily Ever Challenged = a card for the troops

2011-05-09T13:17:00.000-05:00

This is definitely a personal record for me! I started and finished this card within a couple of hours of the posting of the newest Make it Monday challenge on Nichole's blog! I was planning some crafty time today anyway, and I also wanted to complete Ted's challenge to use red, white, blue and yellow to make a card suitable for Operation Write Home, which could be sent to the project that gives handmade cards to troops overseas so that they can use them to write home to loved ones. It's such a great cause to support, and although I've often heard of it, I've never actually sent them any cards. So thanks, Ted, for the "push" and for the link-ups to the info! I'm going to send this card and pull some others from my stash as well!

So, here is my card. The MIM technique is "selective inking", so I used Think Big Favories #2, and followed Erin's technique to ink just the "you". It was pretty much impossible to NOT get any ink on the last couple of letters in the word "thank", but I just used a baby wipe to carefully wipe off that stray ink before stamping. Then I combined the you with the new Alpha-Blocks set (quickly becoming a favorite!) to complete the sentiment.

I added the frame from Tag-it's #2 and a Doily Details die-cut, along with a border-punched strip and some Bella Blvd. patterned paper. The block letters and the doily are all popped up on foam adhesive.

Thanks for looking!

Happy Mothers Day

2011-05-09T06:40:00.001-05:00

Just a quick post to share the Mother's Day card I made for my mother-in-law. The papers are all from Bella Blvd's Hello Beautiful line. I love the patterns, and thought that the leafy/botanical print would look beautiful paired with the bird and birdhouse from PTI's newest set in the Tag-It's series and the die and stamp from Little Bitty Bird. I also included Mat Stack 4, Tiny Tags, and the Turning a New Leaf die (which is quickly becoming a favorite go-to accent!).

The Mat Stack panel is popped up on dimensional adhesive.

Thanks for looking, and I hope all my blog-world friends had a very happy Mother's Day! :)

Make it Monday: Impression Plate Tricks

2011-05-07T10:34:00.001-05:00

The MIM challenge this week on Nichole's blog is so cool! I finished this card earlier this week, but just finally got around to photographing it so I could post today. :) The gist of the technique is to combine dies and an impression plate to emboss your card while leaving the shape of the die impressed into the embossing.

Since the Sunshine IP is one of my favorites, I thought it would go great with the cloud dies and balloons from Up, Up & Away (and I was itchy to do some Copic coloring, anyway... oh how I love to color those sweet little balloons!).

After applying the technique to my Harvest Gold panel, I stamped the clouds over the impressed area in Fresh Snow, and inked around the edges with a yellowy-orange chalk ink. I added the sentiment (also from Up, Up & Away) on a "label" that I cut using the new skateboard die from Skater Dude, with lines from the banner in Banner Builder.

The balloons and sentiment panel are all popped up on foam adhesive for added dimension.

Thanks for looking!

one more Make it Monday - hand drawn line frame

2011-04-30T05:57:00.000-05:00

I have one more card to share for this week's Make it Monday challenge from Nichole Heady's blog, which was to incorporate a hand-drawn line frame. I thought the frame worked nicely on this sympathy card that I made for a sweet friend of mine who recently lost her mother. The colors in the photo came out a little bit wonky, but I used Summer Sunrise, Terracotta Tile and Fine Linen for the base.

I used Turning a New Leaf for a soft background, "thinking of you" from Fillable Frames Additions, and the new With Sympathy from Think Big #3. The double-layered butterfly is cute with the die for Love Lives Here, and stamped with Text Style 2. The smaller sentiment is on a Charming Oval die-cut from Verve.

Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday: Hand Drawn Line Frame, Nichole Heady style!

2011-04-26T12:37:00.000-05:00

I loved the tutorial that Nichole Heady made for us for this week's Make it Monday! I think of the hand-drawn line frame as sort of a "trademark" of hers, and have always been so impressed at how perfect her frames look - completely even, with the corners perfectly lined up. Now that she has shared her technique, I felt ready to try it myself, and I'm so happy with the result!

I needed to make a card for Tyler's First Holy Communion coming up this Sunday. I wanted it to reflect the very special nature of the day and what an important part of his journey of faith this is, but I also wanted it to be fun and cute for a sweet 7 year old boy! So I used the Think Big #2 sentiment "it's your day", along with some of the fun images from Grunge Me, and that sweet little "proud of you" Tiny Tag for the card front:

I added my frame to the Ocean Tides square panel with a white gel pen, letting some of the images go "through" the frame, and others stay "nested" inside the frame, thanks to a Post-It Note mask. :) I thought that the little long-legged bird from Grunge Me was a cute addition to the sentiment panel, which is popped up with foam adhesive for extra dimension.

I wanted to include this bible verse (a Plain Jane stamp from Verve) on the inside, so I carried through the line frame and that cute birdie to the inside panel was well, using Ocean Tides ink and a closely-matching green Sharpie for the frame.

I'm so proud of my little guy, and can hardly wait for his big day on Sunday! Thanks for looking!

First Holy Communion invitations

2011-04-21T09:05:00.000-05:00

I've been kind of AWOL from the blog lately, what with the Spring semester nearing the end, Easter just around the corner, and Tyler's First Holy Communion just around the next corner! I haven't had a chance to sit down and play at my craft table in a couple of weeks. So I thought I'd post these invitations that I made for Tyler's First Communion celebration.

There is a common design scheme but I made them all a little bit different, by doing two in each main color (Blueberry Sky, Orange Zest, Lemon Tart and Terracotta Tile), and mixing up the verses (each is a Plain Jane from Verve), the PTI Impression Plate (I used Sunshine, Polka Dot Basics, Tin Types and Woodgrain), and the dies that I used to cut the panel for the verses (Fillable Frames #1 and Mat Stack 4). Added some ribbon and a branch of leaves stamped and die cut with the Turning a New Leaf collection to finish them off. I think they came out very nice, and came together pretty quickly!

Thanks for looking, and have a wonderful and blessed Easter!

another Make it Monday - masking butterflies

2011-04-13T08:01:00.001-05:00

I completed another card for this week's Make it Monday challenge on Nichole Heady's blog. I just love how this turned out!

I used the Signature Series: Butterfly die, and created 3 masks from Post-it notes, saving the butterfly cut-out part as well. First I used the negative space mask and lined them up vertically on my Vintage Cream panel. I sponged and blended two colors per butterfly, using Orange Zest, Hibiscus Burst and Summer Sunrise. Then I stamped over each butterfly with different background stamps: Twinkle Twinkle, Polka Dot Basics 2, and Text Style 2.

Then I removed the masks, and covered the butterfly images with the butterfly that was cut from the post-its, and stamped leaves from Turning a New Leaf, and added a few little flowers from Beautiful Blooms 2 as accents.

After inking the edges, I adhered the focal point panel to a Dark Chocolate mat, added twine, a Simply Chartreuse button, and a Tiny Tag with the sentiment. After stamping part of my Hibiscus Burst card base with the Polka Dot 2 pattern in Vintage Cream ink, I popped the matted panel up on dimensional adhesive.

Thanks for looking! :)

Make It Monday x2 - new Posse Challenge!

2011-04-11T16:36:00.000-05:00

I just posted the new April Challenge on the Papertrey Posse blog. The challenge is to revisit the Make it Monday videos (you can find them all here!) and pick at least two MIM techniques to incorporate into your card. This is a great opportunity to revisit a favorite, or maybe complete a MIM challenge that you didn't get to the first time around. And of course, feel free to make the current MIM one of your two techniques, so that you can also link it up to Nichole's blog! And, since you have until the end of April to post it here, there will be additional MIM's to use as well! :)

So for my card, I used today's MIM #10 - Masking with Die-Cuts along with #8 - Ink Blending Techniques. I soooo love that soft, blended look and really wanted to try the MIM that week, but time got away from me and I never got to try it. So for my card, I first sponged a PTI white cardstock panel with Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest and a bit of Pure Poppy ink. Then I masked with the negative space from the Fillable Frame #4 die, one of my favorite shapes in the series, and sponged over the Summer Sunrise with blue ink.

I stamped the sentiment from my new (to me) Signature Greetings set. The tree is from Merry Little Christmas, and the bird, birdhouse and little pure poppy flowers are from Tag-Its #2.

I love how soft and pretty this card came out, and I already have a couple of other ideas floating around for revisiting some old MIM techniques, so I'll probably play along again!

Thanks for another awesome Make it Monday video, PTI!

Papertrey Posse April Petite Challenge

2011-04-04T07:19:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post to share the challenge that I just posted on the Papertrey Posse group blog! April is my month to host, and for our Petite Challenge this month, I decided to do (what else?) a sketch challenge! :) The Posse loves to have others play along, so check out our challenge blog and link us up to your creation!

So here is the sketch for April's Petite Challenge:

And here is my card as a sample:

I heat-emblossed the harvest gold base with Polka Dot Basics 2. I used the Birthday Tags set for the "it's your day" tag, and paper-pieced the hat so that I could use several layers in different colors. Also used Mat Stack 1, Limitless Layers dies, the scalloped border die, and PTI ribbon and buttons.

I will be back within a day or two to post the regular April Challenge, so check back!

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

2011-03-12T09:50:00.000-05:00

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

2011-03-10T08:19:00.001-05:00

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!

2011-03-06T09:27:00.000-05:00

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!

2011-03-05T10:58:00.001-05:00

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)

2011-03-04T13:21:00.001-05:00

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

2011-03-03T12:33:00.001-05:00

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!

2011-03-01T12:54:00.000-05:00

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! :)

Making it Monday on a Friday?? More glitter with Scor-Tape!

2011-02-25T15:37:00.000-05:00

I will admit that I was on the fence about whether I wanted to get the new Delightful Doilies set from PTI - doilies not typically being "my thing" - until I saw what Erin Lincoln did with it, coloring the doily images with Copics, a-la-Spirograph style! That was it. (I'm pretty sure I heard my wallet whimper!) So since I got my order earlier this week with these delightful little beauties in it, I've been wanting to try out the technique!

After a couple of not-so-great attempts, I decided on a white base with black ink, and lots of shades of pink, yellow, green and aqua added to the mix. It was fun to figure out different patterns to color - I will definitely be using this again!

I think the fun, bright colors and patterns are just perfectly paired with glitter for the Make It Monday challenge. For my glitter and Scor-tape element, I added the 2 strips of Scor-tape, and then peeled the backing away in stages, cutting diagonally, to add different colors of glitter. To keep the bling theme going, I added gems from Creative Charms in the same colors. The sentiment from Make A Wish finishes off the card!

Thanks for looking!

Viva la Verve - February Week 4

2011-02-22T20:16:00.000-05:00

I'm so stinkin' proud of myself! I said back on February 5th that I WOULD complete all of the Viva La Verve February challenges, and here I am with the last one! GO ME! LOL! This is my card for the 4th week sketch:

The paper is Echo Park Walk in the Park. I used Verve's Classy Label die and the coordinating image and sentiment from Sweet Treats.

Lots of stitching, which I think adds so much texture. Luckily, there was already white thread in my machine, so I wasn't too lazy to do it... LOL!

The sketch is below! Thanks for looking, and thanks Verve for a great month of sketch challenges!

Make it Monday: Scor-tape and Glitter

2011-02-22T12:23:00.001-05:00

This week's Make it Monday challenge is to use Scor-tape to apply glitter to a project. Now, I'll be the first to admit that glitter scares me a little bit... lol! But I do have some, so this was a great push to pull it out and use it!

Here's my card, using the flower from All About You which I colored with Copic markers, and a sentiment from YOF: Lily of the Valley.

I used the decorative border die for a front panel, and added Polka Dot Basics 2 to the bottom of it. The little scalloped border from the Banner Border dies helps set off the front panel.

I carried through the glittery "theme" by adding some with a glue pen to the little spots in the center of the flower circle. And by the way - see that flower center? I used a circle nestie die to cut it out, and then stamped it with the little dotted scallop stamp from the Banner Builder set!

The 3 gems are from Creative Charms. The PTI colors are Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, and Simply Chartreuse, with the bitty box piece in Lemon Zest.

Thanks for looking!

wonderful friend

2011-02-21T05:48:00.001-05:00

Just a quick post today. Here is a card that I made a while back for a submission, but it didn't get picked up.

I used Take 3: Winter and the coordinating die. Added one little strip of the dots from Polka Dot Basics 2. The sentiment is from Round & Round, and I used the Double-ended Banner die and stamp from Banner Builder.

The raised front panel is embossed with the Woodgrain imprssion plate, and then I brushed white ink over it. The gems are from Creative Charms, and I colored them with my Copic marker to match.

Thanks for looking!

getting my Diva on with Verve!

2011-02-19T10:01:00.000-05:00

How awesome, I ask you, is the new Verve Get Your Diva On challenge!?! I almost missed this, but I'm so glad I saw it and decided to play along! Charmaine issued an Inspiration Challenge, where we are to take inspiration - in some form - from this photo:

For my card, I wanted to use To the Moon, because I LUV IT, and I hadn't used the sweet little elephant in it yet and thought that little cutie patootie would look so sweet in pink! I didn't want to do another baby card though, and I didn't necessarily want it to be all Valentine-y either, so I used the "hugs & smiles" sentiment from Kind Words, because after all, doesn't that little elephant look like he would come bearing hugs and smiles??

OK, let's talk about the inspiration! First, obviously, I used the color scheme in the photo - varying shades of pink, and white. I also thought the little beads on the heart in the photo reminded me of the pearl gems that I added to the top of my card.

Now, about the sweet little frame around my elephant friend - how cool is that? I have to give a major shout-out to Verve Diva Tosha Leyendekker for that idea. When I saw how she used the Labels 12 and Square Nesties to create a frame that perfectly fit the stamp, I... uhm... well... I went right out and purchased the Labels 12 and Square Nesties! LOL! So I cut the frame, but the whole inspiration photo has a sense of "sparkle" to me, so I heat-embossed the frame and then dusted a bit of Perfect Pearls over it... VERY hard to photograph, I tried approximately ump-teen different angles to show the shimmer, but here is the best I could do:

And this photo also gives a better view of my last bit of the inspiration... look at those buttons! I was digging through my pink buttons and saw those, and immediately thought of the pattern on the beautiful crystal wine glass (which looks very similar to my wine glasses, incidentally...lol)! I knew that these are the buttons I need on this card!

Thanks for looking, and thanks so much to Verve and especially Charmaine for the fun and inspiring challenge!

another Make it Monday - I just can't help myself!

2011-02-17T17:20:00.002-05:00

I wasn't really planning on doing another MIM entry today, but what can I say? This idea started to formulate in my head, and I just had to do it! It turned out pretty close to what I had envisioned, and I'm really happy with it!

I stamped the Year of Flowers: Rose on Summer Sunrise and just selectively shaded a bit with Copics. I cut the frame from Blueberry Sky, using Mat Stack 5 and the opening with the Fillable Frame #7 die. The frame is popped up on the card base with 3D adhesive, and the vellum sentiment strip, embossed with a sentiment from Round & Round, is adhered to the back. The card base is embossed with the woodgrain Impression Plate - I never ran my whole card base through with an IP before, but I love the effect! I used Ripe Avacado Bitty Box paper and the Banner Borders die.

The butterfly is the butterfly die on the bottom layer, with Polka Dot Basics 2 stamped on Spring Moss, and then vellum on the top layer with the Love Lives Here butterfly die and stamp. I added 3 little Creative Charms rhinestones, which were clear but I colored with Copics.

Thanks for looking!

another Make it Monday - vellum strip sentiment

2011-02-16T13:51:00.000-05:00

Can you tell how much I'm loving this week's Make it Monday challenge? The idea for this card came to me and I sketched it out, and it came together pretty much just like I had envisioned it.

The cupcake is from Baby Button Bits and I colored it with Copics. I used Tiny Treats: Birthday for the Mat Stack 5 image and Sheet Music Background on the blue panel. Also used the Edger #1 dies and the scalloped circle from Limitless Layers 1.75". The sentiment is from Round & Round, and I used the Banner die to cut the vellum and then embossed it. Also used heat embossing on the Mat Stack and the Music background. I'm usually too lazy to heat emboss, lol, but I really like how it turned out on here! The background paper is from Distressed Dots. The fun little cupcake, of course, just had to be popped up on 3D adhesive! :)

Thanks for looking!

Viva la Verve: February Week 3

2011-02-16T10:28:00.000-05:00

I bet you didn't believe me when I said that I WILL keep up with the Viva la Verve challenges this month, did you? (Ok, I wasn't quite sure I believed myself, lol.) But here it is week 3, and I'm still on track... go ME! Here is my take (turned sideways!) on this week's sketch (see the sketch below):

I'm still having such fun with my newest Verve goodies, so I used To the Moon on this one with the Classy Label die and the open heart from Sweet Treats. I colored in the little star groupings with a Copic marker, and the flourish is from PTI's Fancy Flourishes. I really like how the tone-on-tone look worked out. The background panel is embossed with the PTI Polka Dot 2 impression plate, and I added baker's twine from The Twinery and a Pure Poppy button to tie into the red hearts on the sentiment panel, which is popped up (as is the moon) with 3D adhesive.

The sketch is below, and the challenge details can be found here.

Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday again & Papertrey Posse February Challenge!

2011-02-15T13:06:00.000-05:00

The card I have to share today is a 2-for-1 in terms of challenges!

This is another PTI Make it Monday entry for the vellum sentiment strip challenge. I am loving this method of adding the sentiment! Here, I used Scor-tape both to hold the vellum in place (it is carefully applied to stick to the card front and "half overlap" the vellum strip) and also to adhere glitter. Yes, GLITTER! As someone who has always been a little bit afraid of glitter ;) I thought it would be a nice touch here to set off the vellum, and I really love how it turned out!

This card is also my Papertrey Posse February Challenge card for our Parade of Blogs over at the Posse blog! Maggie issued a challenge this month to create a card (or project) that is all about your favorite things--images, colors, materials, etc. So aside from the fact that vellum sentiment strips are one of my new favorites :) I used my favorite Year of Flowers image on the card - the Lily of the Valley. I also used one of my favorite techniques, coloring with Copic markers. I've only "discovered" Copics in the past few months, since I have gotten more into cardmaking, but I just love love LOVE the beautiful, unique look that can be achieved with them!

Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday: Vellum Sentiment Strip

2011-02-14T18:32:00.000-05:00

This has to be a super quick post as I'm on my way out the door on some errands! But I couldn't wait to try this week's new Make It Monday challenge: vellum sentiment strip! Here is my card, with 2 friendly little bitty birds:

The birds are die-cut from Summer Sunrise and Melon Berry cardstock, stamped, and then I shaded the wings with Copics. Then I popped them up on the card front. The button twine is PTI Vintage Cream which I colored with a Copic marker.

Thanks for looking!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T13:52:00.000-05:00

I've been so eager to share the Valentine's day card I made for my hubby! I was inspired by Michele's card where she combined the sweet birds in Little Bitty Bird with a birdhouse image from Bird Watching. I don't have Bird Watching, but I loved the concept adn decided to improvise it, using Love Lives Here and the tree from Merry Little Christmas! I just love how it turned out!

The sentiment is also from Love Lives Here, and the cloud is the die from Up Up and Away. I threaded the button twine through the card front to make it look more realistically "tied" to the tree branch.

Thanks for looking, and Happy Valentine's Day!

another Make it Monday

2011-02-13T17:16:00.000-05:00

I'm back with another project for this week's Make it Monday at Papertrey Ink! I had grand plans of getting several entries finished for this challenge, but I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with two this week, lol! I am so glad that this will be an ongoing challenge series though - I can't wait to see what tomorrow's video tutorial is about!

But anyway, here is my card:

I used the "go-to sentiment" concept a bit differently this time than in my first entry, repeating the same Happy Birthday sentiment (from Birthday Basics) over and over, but with the main sentiment in Enchanted Evening ink to stand out from the others. I used a Mat Stack 2 layer that I cut in half (after stamping with an image from the MS 2 Collection in a tone-on-tone ink) behind the The Mat Stack 4 sentiment panel, punched a hole in each end, and threaded Enchanted Evening Baker's Twine through some Harvest Gold buttons. The whole panel is then popped up from the card base (which is cut with the totally fun Edgers dies) with dimensional adhesive.

I added the fun little present, cut from Enchanted Evening Bitty Dots paper and with an orange zest "ribbon", which I added tone-on-tone stripes to, using a stamp from the Banner Builder set.

Thanks for looking, and thanks again PTI for the fun challenge and amazing inspiration!

Make it Monday

2011-02-08T12:17:00.000-05:00

Hey, have you heard? They are starting a COOL new challenge/contest series at Papertrey Ink called Make it Monday! You can get all the info on Nichole's blog.

The first challenge is to make a "go-to-sentiment" card. I used "thanks" as my sentiment, and found as many as I could in my stamp sets, including All About You (and additions), Around and About, Round & Round, YOF: Lily of the Valley... and I'm forgetting a couple of sets that I used, but I'm short on time, LOL! I did the big "thanks" with Outline Alphabet, and colored with Hawaiian Shores Copics, to work with the HS and Orange Zest cardstock. I also colored gems from Creative Charms with the Copics to match.

I used a Fine Linen card base, which is cut in the back with the edger die, but for something different I cut off the bottom edge of the front panel and adhered my Hawaiian Shores panel, cut with the edger die, to the front. I love how it turned out!

Thanks for looking!

Hello Friend! Viva La Verve - February Week 2

2011-02-07T21:57:00.000-05:00

Just LOOK AT ME GO! It's the 2nd week of February, and I'm 2-for-2 so far... actually keeping up with the Viva La Verve challenges! The month is going to get busier from here on out, but I'm going to try to keep it up. The sketches are wonderful, so easy to work with!

I wanted to use another image from the SO fun To the Moon set, so I decided that the little giraffe would be fun to play with. I paired him with the Hello Friend sentiment from Friendly Phrases... doesn't he just look like he's popping his cute little head out of a round window and saying, "hello, friend!" :)

Thanks for looking! Supplies and sketch are below.

Supplies: Stamps: Verve, Papertrey Ink ~ Patterned Paper: October Afternoon, Papertrey Ink ~ Cardstock: Papertrey Ink ~ Gems: Creative Charms ~ Dies: Spellbinders, Papertrey Ink ~ Ink: Versamagic; Memento ~ Other: Impression Plate (Papertrey Ink); Copic Markers; Fiskers Border Punch

PTI 4th Anniversary Tags: Nichole Heady tag

2011-02-06T23:15:00.000-05:00

As the PTI anniversary celebration continues, today Nichole provided an awesome free download with tags designed by each of the amazing team of stamp designers. The challenge is to use the tags in a project and link back for a chance to win the amazing prize - a role as a guest stamp designer!

I managed to complete 3 projects today with the tags, but I know I will use these again in the future. Here is the card I made with the tag that Nichole Heady designed. I used Aqua Mist and Ocean Tides. Don't you just love the fun, classy, decorative edge dies? I used Ocean Tides felt to cut the mat for the tag with a Limitless Layer die, added the music background on the bottom and the scrolls on the top.

Thanks for looking, and thanks PTI for the awesome freebie download! :)

Supplies: Stamps: Papertrey Ink ~ Patterned Paper: Papertrey Ink ~ Cardstock: Papertrey Ink ~ Pearls: Creative Charms ~ Dies: Papertrey Ink ~ Ink: Papertrey Ink ~ Ribbon: Papertrey Ink

PTI 4th Anniversary Tags: Heather Nichols tag

2011-02-06T23:10:00.000-05:00

As the PTI anniversary celebration continues, today Nichole provided an awesome free download with tags designed by each of the amazing team of stamp designers. The challenge is to use the tags in a project and link back for a chance to win the amazing prize - a role as a guest stamp designer!

I managed to complete 3 projects today with the tags, but I know I will use these again in the future. Here is the card I made with the tag that Heather Nichols designed. I used the Mat Stack 3 image on Fine Linen and embossed with clear embossing powder. The scalloped circle with the tag are popped up with dimensional adhesive. The base is Spring Moss and I stamped the Text Style 2 background in a slightly darker green ink.

Thanks for looking, and thanks PTI for the awesome freebie download! :)

Supplies: Stamps: Papertrey Ink ~ Patterned Paper: Papertrey Ink ~ Cardstock: Papertrey Ink ~ Dies: Papertrey Ink ~ Ink: Memento; Stampin Up ~ Ribbon: Papertrey Ink

PTI 4th Anniversary Tags: Melissa Bickford tag

2011-02-06T23:03:00.003-05:00

As the PTI anniversary celebration continues, today Nichole provided an awesome free download with tags designed by each of the amazing team of stamp designers. The challenge is to use the tags in a project and link back for a chance to win the amazing prize - a role as a guest stamp designer!

I managed to complete 3 projects today with the tags, but I know I will use these again in the future. Here is the card I made iwth Melissa Bickford's adorable tag. As soon as I saw that little rainbow, I knew I wanted to take my Copics to it, LOL! Then it just seemed to make sense to pull out Up, Up & Away and add the balloons and clouds, and I figured it would be cute to carry the rainbow theme through with the ballooons. It's a little bit hard to tell in the photo (ugh, awful nighttime/indoor lighting!), but the large balloon and the smaller cloud, as well as the sentiment circle, are all popped up on 3D foam adhesive.

Thanks for looking, and thanks PTI for the awesome freebie download! :)

Supplies: Stamps: Papertrey Ink ~ Cardstock: Papertrey Ink ~ Dies: Papertrey Ink ~ Impression Plate: Papertrey Ink ~ Ink: Memento; Versamagic ~ Markers: Copic ~ Ribbon: Papertrey Ink

More sweet little Emery! Viva La Verve - January Week 1

2011-02-05T13:39:00.000-05:00

I will - yes, you heard me - I WILL play along this month with the Viva La Verve challenge! I just loved the Week 1 sketch, and I'm still all goo-goo eyed over sweet little Emery, so I knew another baby card was in order!

I colored Emery with Copic markers (yes, I did get a few more and I have a few more on the way still ;), and I'm so glad that I decided to sew on this card. I love the added texture it gives, but I'm usually too lazy - not so much too lazy to sew, just too lazy to switch out the thread in my machine, lol! But it was worth the effort this time!

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Stamps: Verve ~ Bakers Twine: The Twinery ~ Button: Papertrey Ink ~ Cardstock: Papertrey Ink ~ Dies: Spellbinders ~ Ink: Papertrey Ink; Versamagic; Memento ~ Markers: Copic ~ Patterned paper: Papertrey Ink; October Afternoon ~ Ribbon: Papertrey Ink

A flashback to celebrate PTI's anniversary!

2011-02-05T07:24:00.000-05:00

Happy Anniversary to Papertrey Ink! As part of the build up to the big anniversary of PTI coming up on February 15th, Nichole Heady will be featuring special goings-on and contests on her blog! HOW FUN! Today's contest asks us to "go through YOUR Papertrey projects from the last year and choose your very favorite of the bunch." Oh my... that's a hard one, because even though I only "found" PTI a little less than a year ago, I have fallen in love... like, head over heels, and I have a number of projects that I'm very proud of!

But, after looking back through my PTI favorites, I decided that this one comes out on top:

This was originally posted on July 2, 2010, and used a sketch from Mercy Kerin. (Click back to the original post through the link to get all the details and see the sketch.) I just loved how the rose from the Year of Flowers set came out, as I was just starting to learn how to use my Copics.

Thanks Nichole for the fun contest, and Happy Anniversary to PTI!

a lesson in paying attention to deadlines!

2011-01-30T15:49:00.000-05:00

I had been wanting to play along with Verve's January Diva Dare this month, ever since the DT posts started! The dare was to "make a card, project, layout, or whatever fits your stamping style using this month's theme - Baby Love!" PERFECT, especially since I just got some of the new January release stamps, which include some sweet baby and love themed images! I just could not wait to play with the sweet little Emory Plain Jane, which I paired with a sentiment from To The Moon.

The only problem is, it turns out that the deadline to post and enter was LAST NIGHT at midnight, not TONIGHT! WAAHHH!! And the real kick in the pants is that I had this card finished yesterday, but just got around to taking pics today - thinking that I had until tonight to enter. Ah well... lesson learned! But here is my card anyway!

I originally was looking forward to coloring Emery with Copics, but when I sat down to pick out colors, it turns out (hard as it is to believe, HAH!) that I didn't have the right combination of Copics for Emery's sweet, soft and delicate look. I need to get some more lighter shades (00's and 000's) for the really soft blending that Emery deserves! :) So instead, I stamped the cutie-patootie several times on some pretty gingham October Afternoon paper, cut them out and popped up his arms and head for a cool 3D effect. I really love how it turned out (but yeah, I still need some more Copics, dontcha think?? ;)

The colors are PTI Hawaiian Shores, Aqua Mist and Harvest Gold. I die-cut the teeny little heart with the PTI Love Lives Here butterfly die (tip: add double-sided tape to the back of the paper before you cut, for easy adhering!). I colored the 3 rhinestones with my Copics to match the color scheme, and I also used the January Week 4 Viva La Verve sketch!

Thanks for looking! (And I will try to be more timely next time!!)

Papertrey Ink January Blog Hop!

2011-01-25T10:46:00.001-05:00

It's been a couple of months since I actually got a project finished, to take part in the PTI Blog Hop! YAY, ME! :) Here is the challenge for this month's hop: "This month's blog hop challenge involves you challenging yourself to use a Papertrey stamp set that has yet to see ink or even one that might be collecting a little dust! Go through your stash and see what little used treasure it might hold." What a great challenge, Nichole! I definitely have some sets that have not seen the love that they deserve! So here is my card:

I have had Out on a Limb in my stash for MONTHS, but had yet to ink it up! What a great, versatile set. I'm sure to reach for it more often now! And Wise Owl was one of the first PTI sets that I purchased! I have used it before, but not in a while - so it was definitely in the "collecting dust" category. :) So unfair, as that little owl is just THE CUTEST, isn't he? I stamped and colored him separately and cut him out, then popped him up on the card base.

Also used here the Polka Dot impression plate (love it!!) and the Banner Builder set. Also loooooving my new Lacey Circles nesties that I got for Christmas! ♥ PTI colors are Blueberry Sky, Summer Sunrise (love that color, and even it is underused from my stash!!) and Simply Chartruese.

Click the Blog Hop logo below to go to the link page on Nichole's blog, for an AMAZING amount of PTI inspiration! You can link up your own creation for the hop up until 11:00pm tonight, January 25, for a chance to win your choice of a PTI stamp set!

Thanks for looking, and enjoy the hop!

a colorful happy birthday card

2011-01-18T07:34:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post... I wanted to share this bright and cheery (I hope!) birthday card! I used PTI's Take Three die, which I really want to try to utilize more. I've seen some awesome cards, using the die to create a "window" effect, which is obviously not what I did here, lol.

But, I'm still happy with how this came out. I also used one of the Banner Border dies - these are such a fun and easy accent for a card! The stamps are YOF: Lily of the Valley, colored with Copics in colors to match the Orange Zest, Hibiscus Burst, and Spring Rain cardstock; and the Sheet Music Background stamp. The sentiment is a combination of PTI ("happy birthday") and Verve.

Thanks for looking!

catching up with the Posse + CPS201

2011-01-17T16:25:00.001-05:00

Since I am sooooo late posting these cards that I actually finished (yay me!) for the Papertrey Posse's January challenges, I am going to get them both posted at once! Also, the 2nd card below is for the CPS #201 challenge - be sure to check it out, what a great sketch!

First, for the January Petite Posse challenge, Sarah challenged us to make a one-layer card. Now I should day, I am terribly intimidated by one-layer cards! I see some on other blogs that I LOVE, but I never seem to know what to do with only one layer to work with! ACK! So here is my attempt:

I used PTI's Fillable Frame #4, and after stamping it I die-cut it from a post-it note to use as a mask, and then stamped my background with Turning a New Leaf. The lower part of the panel is a grid background stamp that I recently got from Market Street Stamps. I finished things off with a bit of ribbon, Creative Charm gems, a button and some twine.

Next, for the main January challenge, Sarah challenged us to use a black base or background for our card. I paired my true black background panel (embossed with the Sunshine Impression Plate) with Simply Chartruese and Harvest Gold. Since I have had the YOF: Gladiolus for quite a while but haven't used them much, I tried to do a tone-on-tone effect for the main image/sentiment panel, just shading the inner parts of the flowers with a Copic marker. The black gemstones are from Creative Charms.

I also used the CPS #201 sketch for this card! What a fun and inspiring sketch, I think I might have ot use it again.

Thanks for looking, and a BIG thanks to Sarah for the great challenges!

just a quick little card

2011-01-16T07:08:00.000-05:00

I find it hard, it seems, to do a card without feeling like the whole canvas of the card has to be "loaded up". I find myself thinking "I need a pattern there" or "I should add some texture here". So this card was my attempt to KISS (keep it simple, stupid! ;) and let the card have a little of white space, and a more basic design:

I used PTI's Sheet Music Background, Polka Dot Basics 2, Beautiful Blooms dies, and the leaves are from the YOF: Rose set. The sentiment is a Verve stamp. Thanks for looking! :)