MIM: Coloring with white ink

Hi again. I'm back with another post today. This time it's for the Make It Monday challenge, coloring with white ink. I die cut the largest Beautiful Blooms II 3 die and used the negative space as a mask over my card front. I then sponged white ink inside the mask and created daisies. Daisies are such cheerful flowers, aren't they? (Isn't that a line or something similar that Meg Ryan says in "You've Got Mail"? Love that movie, it's such a sweet chick flick.). You can't help but smile when you see them.

Enjoy the day!

PaperTrey Playhouse Challenge: Christmas in July

Happy Sunday! I'm back with a holiday card. Christmas in July? Yep! Lou posted a challenge last week on the PaperTrey Playhouse blog to make a holiday card. Believe it or not, I do not make my own holiday cards to send out to family and friends. It's not for lack of supplies, I have plenty of those. I just choose to spend my time working on my annual calendar gifts. I make 12 each year and I have to start right about now in order to give myself enough time to get them done before Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a good week!

PaperTrey Playhouse Challenge: Embellishments

Happy Tuesday! I've been posting tons the last few days. Thankfully I've been better about photographing my cards right after I finish them! Today's card is just making the deadline for the current PaperTrey Playhouse challenge, which is to dig out embellishments that have been gathering dust in the craft closet and put them to good use!


I've had these Maya Road fabric flowers and leaf stick pins for quite awhile and have never used them. Now I'm wondering why I waited so long! They are fun to play with! I used the "You are a treasure" sentiment from the Signature Series dress form set on the tag, though it's hard to see in the picture. Patterned papers are from the Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden collection.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamp-A-Faire Challenge #10

Hello again! I'm back with one more post to conclude the Stamp-A-Faire fun! This challenge is to add a stamped focal point over a stamped background all in one layer. I decided to go for a monochromatic look and pulled out my Tea Time stamp sets along with Background Basics Text Style. I found the little tea bag charm buried in a bowl full of embellishments and it was the perfect finishing touch. Feel free to click on the image for a closer look:


Thanks for visiting! Have a good evening!

July PTI Blog Hop: Inspiration Photo

Happy Monday! I'm getting my PTI blog hop post done just in time. I've had my card finished for a couple of weeks, but hadn't written up my post until now. Here is the photo from which we were to take inspiration:

I was especially drawn to the color combination and the floral pillow on the right. Here is my card:

I used the carnation image from the YOF Collection set to create my patterned background. I stamped it repeatedly in white and embossed them in white on the Aqua Mist panel and then colored them in with the Copic markers. A Melon Berry strip along the lower third with the Think Big Favorites #4 sentiment stamped in coordinating ink and a Paper Reverie embellishment from Making Memories finish the card.

Thanks for stopping by! I can't wait to check out everyone's projects!

Summer Card Camp Week 4

Happy Sunday! It's hard to believe Summer Card Camp has concluded. I've learned a lot and will definitely reference the color combinations, sketches and design principles Jennifer and Kristina presented throughout the four weeks moving forward. Here is my final card for camp using the above color combination:

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of the weekend! It's going to be another beautiful day here in the PNW!

Stamp-A-Faire Challenge #9

Stamp-A-Faire Challenge 9 is to look at stamps in a new way--sideways, upside down, etc. and try to come up with something unique. Earlier today I was working on a baby card for a co-worker and used the Bundle of Love set. I still had the set out, and I decided to see if I could come up with something interesting for the three different patterned swatches for the baby sling. My result was a flower/pinwheel. I was still on the warm color combo kick from the previous challenge, so here is my finished card:

I'll be back with Challenge 10 after it's been released and I've completed it!

Stamp-A-Faire Challenge #8

Stamp-A-Faire Challenge 8 is to cut an inch off the card front to leave room for a special touch on the small lip left exposed.

Love this warm color combo.

Back with Challenge 9 next.

Stamp-A-Faire Challenge #7

Stamp-A-Faire Challenge 7 is to layer two or three stamp sets together to come up with a surprising pairing. I had a hard time coming up with something at first, but once I got my idea it came together fairly quickly. I made an anniversary card using the two Warm Happiness sets and adding a couple of "sweet" touches from Tea For Two Additions (click on the photo for a closer look!). I think this is my favorite project of the day, so far!


Back with Challenge 8 soon.

Stamp-A-Faire Challenge #6

Stamp-A-Faire Challenge 6 is to create notches for wrapping twine or ribbon around a card. I used a small rectangle punch from Fiskars to make the notches for this sympathy card.

The fern from Masculine Motifs is stamped on a business card size piece of balsa wood.

Back with Challenge 7 in a few.

Stamp-A-Faire Challenge #5

Stamp-A-Faire Challenge 5 is to take a solid stamp image and use it to create a border. I had fun creating this card. I took the moon image from Masculine Motifs and used it to create waves for my boat to sail upon. The Echo Park splash paper was perfect inspiration for my color combination.

Today would be a perfect day to be out on the water--it's sunny and warm here in the PNW. Summer is finally here!

Back soon with Challenge 6!

Stamp-A-Faire Challenge #4

Stamp-A-Fair Challenge 4 is a color combo. Hawaiian Shores, Enchanted Evening, Simply Chartreuse and Ripe Avocado. Cool tones are my favorites by far, but for some reason I had a hard time coming up with an idea for this card. I ended up making a circle card, which I haven't made much of before.

Challenge 5 is up next.

Stamp-A-Faire Challenge #3

Stamp-A-Faire Challenge 3 is to create a window card and thread ribbon through the window around the card. I managed to create this card using up scraps from my scrap bin and repurposing some paper packaging from a gift swap. Always love it when I can reuse items!

Challenge 4 is up next!

Stamp-A-Faire Challenge #2

Hi again. I'm back with Challenge 2 for Stamp-A-Faire. This challenge is to pair hot pink with charcoal gray, a very girly combination for sure!

My picture seems to make the pink look darker, almost red, but it's very Raspberry Fizz-like in real life! I tried a couple of new things on this card: washi tape--the strip on the bottom of the tag; Copic coloring on the silk ribbon (it was white, I turned it gray with C6 marker); and the decorative paper is from Webster's Pages Trendsetter collection.

Back in a flash with Challenge 3!

Stamp-A-Faire Challenge #1

Happy Weekend! I'm participating in PTI's Stamp-A-Faire Challenges today. There are 10 total and I've completed each one, so you will see quite a few posts from me today!

First up is Challenge 1, to create a patterned strip using decorative elements. I decided to make a border using the three button images from Studio Style:

The color combo was one of the bonus combos provided this week for Online Card Camp.

Back in a few minutes with Challenge 2.

Make It Monday: Pocket with Decorative Edge

Hi again! Hopefully the sun is shining where you are and you're enjoying some summer-like weather! Here in the Pacific Northwest, the sky is cloudy and gray today. Yesterday we had several periods of torrential downpours. Outside it looked more like spring or fall, though the temps are in the 70's. Oh well, the rain keeps the plants growing and green.

Though it may be gray outside, I tapped my summer spirit when I chose the colors for this card for this week's Make It Monday, to make a pocket card that has a decorative edge. I was inspired by the colors I used in this card a few weeks ago, but threw in some green for the leaves and button for this project.

And here is a picture of the tag that pulls out from the pocket:


Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Summer Card Camp Week 3

Happy Sunday! Hope you're enjoying your weekend. I'm back with this week's Summer Card Camp color combination:


I ended up making two cards with this color combination. Here is my first one:


I'm realizing now that my picture doesn't show any of the light, light brown color on the card. I used a kraft card base and scalloped the right edge. Unfortunately I didn't prop the card correctly to show that. Darn.

And without even consciously trying to use the color combination again, I made another card simply because the scraps were there on my desk and I wanted to use them up. I have so many scraps that I'm storing, I don't know if I'll ever use them up!

The new Winnie the Pooh movie just came out, and it prompted me to remember that I had some Pooh stamps in my collection and that I should revisit them. I think I've had them for probably 10-12 years! I'm so glad I didn't get rid of them, they are adorable images. The sentiment on the card is from a small clear set from Inkadinkado that includes a hot air balloon. I thought the sentiment paired nicely with Pooh flying away on his balloon.

I'll be back with another post shortly, as I also participated in this week's PTI Make It Monday.

Thanks for stopping by!

Summer Card Camp Week 2

Happy Fourth of July! I'm back with a card for Week 2 of Summer Card Camp. I absolutely love this color combination, it makes me think of a summer garden!

And here is my card:

I was surprised at how quickly this card came together. I pulled out PTI's Garden Variety set and coordinating dies, Memento inks and Cosmo Cricket's Garden Variety paper pad and just played. The little seed packet envelope would be perfect to hold a gift card to a green thumb's favorite nursery. I wish my grandmother--our family's green thumb--was still alive. I would have loved to have given her this card.

Enjoy the holiday today and be safe!

Happy Birthday, America!

Happy Fourth of July!

Have a safe and happy day!

PTI MIM: Polaroid 2 Step Masking

This is my third post for today. I played along with the "Polaroid 2 Step Masking" challenge for this week's Make It Monday. This was a new color combination for me, but I really liked how it turned out and plan to use it for future projects--it's very summer-y!

I've been playing around with my photo light box and adjusting where I place my lamps. This photo turned out better than previous ones I've posted for the last year or so, but I still think the color is a bit muted. Something to work on. At least I've gotten rid of the shadows that used to haunt my photos!

I'll be back again tomorrow with a card for the Fourth of July!

Summer Card Camp Week 1--bonus color combos

Hi again! I'm back with another post featuring a couple more cards I made with the bonus color combos that were released on Friday for the Summer Card Camp.

This color combination is my favorite of the bunch. I've always been partial to the cooler tones, so this is right up my alley! Stamps and dies are from PTI.

This color combination is also made up of more cool colors. Flower and sentiments stamps are from PTI. The splatter background stamp is from All Night Media.

I'm so glad I decided to take this class. It's presenting me with new color combinations I haven't tried before, which is definitely a good thing. It's too easy to fall into a stamping rut, so I welcome any opportunity to change things up a bit.

Summer Card Camp Week 1

Happy July to you! I'm participating in Kristina Werner's and Jennifer McGuire's joint Summer Card Class for the next month. Since I work full time, it's hard for me to get crafting time in during the week, so I make the most of my weekends and try to get a lot of stamping done!

Here is my card for this week's color combo:

At first glance I thought the color combo was going to be a bit of a challenge for me, but the hard part was actually deciding which stamps to ink! I finally chose PTI's A Day at the Beach set, which I've owned since it first came out but I'd never inked. I also made a couple of other cards using the bonus color combos featured on Friday. I'll be back with a separate post for those.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!