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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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!

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!