June Blog Hop: Color Combination

Hey Everyone! Happy Friday! I just got home from work and have been furiously trying to photograph my cards and create quick color swatches in time for my submissions for this month's PaperTrey Ink blog hop. I don't really have a favorite color combination, so instead I tried to come up with combinations I'd never used before. It really was a challenge for me!

My first card incorporates dark chocolate, pure poppy, lemon tart, spring moss, and aqua mist.

I hadn't received the new teapot die in the mail yet, so this teapot image was cut out by hand. Can't wait to try the die. It will save me lots of time! I used the strawberry cluster image from the Vintage Picnic set to tie in my tea pot with the strawberries on the patterned paper. I also cut a couple of Dark Chocolate cardstock rick rack strips with the PTI die to coordinate with the patterned paper. The little polka dot tea cup image is from the 2nd year anniversary set, Everyday Classics. I accented the little heart on the tea bag label with a heart rhinestone sticker. The patterned paper is from October Afternoon's "Fly A Kite" collection.

My second card incorporates Ripe Avocado, Summer Sunrise, Raspberry Fizz, Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, and Lavender Moon. I think this card is my favorite of the two. I just love the "Life" stamp set, and this color combo seems like the very essence of summer!


Thanks for looking! Enjoy the rest of the hop, and have a great weekend!

PTI May Blog Hop: Felt!

This month's PaperTrey Ink blog hop challenge was to make something incorporating felt. My sister's birthday is this coming weekend. She is crazy about pink, sparkles and butterflies, so this card came together in no time at all. She stopped by my house this past weekend and happened to pop into my craft room. The card was out on my desk as I had just finished photographing it for this blog post. I hadn't intended for her to see the card early, but she spotted it right away and oohed and aahed. Well, at least I know she likes it, even if she won't be surprised when she opens the envelope!
Thanks for looking! Enjoy the rest of the blog hop!

Card details: All stamps, ribbon, ink, felt, paper and card stock by PaperTrey Ink; Stickles glitter glue; black pearl floral stem.

PTI April Blog Hop: Tissue Paper!

Hello there! Happy Sunday! This is my first time participating in the PaperTrey Ink Blog Hop, and I'm so excited. This month's challenge was to incorporate tissue paper into your creation. I ended up making two cards.

Prior to this challenge, I had been recycling all of the tissue paper that came with my PTI orders. I won't be doing that anymore!

When I went to make my cards, I couldn't find any tissue paper. Then I remembered a recent clothing purchase I had made and that the store wrapped my clothes in tissue paper. I pulled the tissue out of the bag and discovered it had a neat, watermarked houndstooth pattern to it. I cut some of it apart and repeatedly stamped the handwritten script from the Background Basics Text stamp set on to the back side of the patterned tissue. I ended up creating scalloped borders with my designer tissue (featured on the first card), and then made some of the ever-popular tissue paper flowers (featured on the second card). Rather than get out some of my flower dies, I pulled out three different sizes of Marvy scalloped circle punches and used those to create the flower layers. I had a lot of fun making these cards, and definitely plan to incorporate tissue paper into more of my projects!

Thanks for looking!

Card Details:
All stamps, cardstock and dies by PTI; ink by PTI and Color Box; Frost Shimmer Spritz by Tsukineko.

Card Details:
All stamps, ink and cardstock by PTI; ribbon by Stampin' Up; fabric brad by Basic Grey; Marvy Uchida punches; We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper.

Poppy Seed Challenge #2

Happy Sunday! Hope you had a good weekend. I spent most of mine crafting, which always makes for a good weekend in my book! I saw Lisa Johnson posted her second Poppy Seed Challenge on her blog, so I was excited to play along! I actually made three cards for the challenge, which was to include at least one button, polka dots, and a light moss green in your creation.

My first two cards here are similar in layout and elements. I was really proud of myself for recycling packaging and incorporating them into my cards. I recently bought a couple of cartons of cute soaps to put in my Easter baskets for my family and friends. One carton had bunnies, the other carton had duckies. These tags show they are "baby" soaps, but I think they're fun for just about everyone, and a good alternative if you don't want to put candy in your Easter baskets. As I unwrapped the soaps from their packaging, I was about to toss the tags into the recycle, when I stopped and thought, "these would be fun on some springtime or baby cards," and carefully stashed them away. I knew they would come in handy, I just didn't think it would be so soon!
I'm going to send this card to my friend who is about to become a grandmother for the second time. The baby is due in early April, and it's a boy. She told me she saves all of the cards I make and send her in a special box, so I know she will appreciate this one!
I think the little duck in the picture just has a ton of personality. He's adorable. I will have to save one of the ducky soaps and package it up to give with this card, along with some fun baby socks that look like high top sneakers. I've given these as baby gifts several times, and everyone just loves them. They are too cool! I wish they came in adult size, as I would totally wear them!



I tried out the paper piercing technique on this last card. I have a template that has a swirly line of dots, so it made it super easy to poke the holes for flight paths for the butterflies. These butterflies are included in the new Embosslits Beautiful Wings Sizzix die for Stampin' Up. I love it, because you get five different sizes of butterflies, and each one has a different pattern imprinted on it. Too much fun. I know I will get lots of use out of it. I've become infatuated with the Berry Sorbet color from PTI. It's just so bright and cheerful. I want to use it on everything, and goes with so many other colors. If you don't have it, you NEED to get it! I hooked a friend of mine on it, and she uses it all of the time now, too!

Thanks for looking! Have a good week! My latest order from PaperTrey Ink is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, so that's definitely something to look forward to on a Monday!!

Card Details: Card 1: Cardstock, designer paper, scallop border die, ink, stamp and button from PaperTrey Ink; polka dot ribbon from American Crafts; string; tag from soap packaging; Martha Stewart tulip punch; We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper.

Card 2: Cardstock, scallop border die, Ocean Tides ink, sentiment stamp and button from PaperTrey Ink; Versamark ink; polka dot background stamp from Hero Arts; ribbon from American Crafts; string; tag from soap packaging; We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper.

Card 3: Cardstock, flower stem stamp and buttons from PaperTrey Ink; polka dots background stamp from Hero Arts; sentiment stamp by Savvy Stamps; Beautiful Wings Embosslits butterfly die from Stampin' Up; We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hello! In anticipation of St. Patrick's Day, I whipped up a couple of cards. I'm not Irish, but hey, I'm always up for a celebration, so bring on the green! This first card was inspired by an idea I saw at Impress, but I put my own spin on it, and I think it turned out to be a fun card. Perfect for my Irish friend, Kelly! Impress actually released the "Be Merry Be Green" sentiment last Christmas, but I think it works equally well for this holiday too. The green foam for the beer was colored in with a Copic marker, and then I went over it with a green Spica glitter pen, just to give it some pizzazz.

This next card is actually pretty cute in real life. I cut out the shamrock using my Slice and the Spring cartridge, and stamped the "Sending you a wee bit of luck" sentiment on it. I then outlined it with a green Spica marker. I punched out a bunch of tiny shamrocks with a teeny Punch Bunch punch, and tossed them into the glassine envelope, then adhered it to a striped green background scrap. As a fun little surprise, I tucked an individually wrapped organic mint tea bag inside the card for the recipient. Gotta have some sort of green beverage on St. Paddy's day, right?

Thanks for looking! Hope you remember to wear your green, otherwise you might get pinched!

Card details:

Card 1: note card by A Muse; paper from my stash; stamps by Impress, Art Impressions, 100 Proof Press; ink by Memento; Copic and Spica markers; circle punches.
Card 2: note card by A Muse; paper by Making Memories; glassine envelope from Impress; ink by Memento; Spica marker; Making Memories Slice machine and cartridge; punch by Punch Bunch.

Spring is in the Air

After a crazy Monday at work, I was so glad to get home this afternoon and just play! I wanted to participate in the spring card challenge on Nichole Heady's blog, and once I decided on my color scheme it didn't take me too long to figure what stamps to use (I've quickly learned that my inventory of PaperTrey Ink spring-like stamps is sorely lacking; I will need to fix that!) and my card layout. I had a chance to practice my Copic blending, and I really like how the tulips turned out. The basket was a bit more of a challenge with all of those polka dots!

This card just makes me so happy and anxious for spring to arrive! Here in Washington we have an annual tulip festival each year up north in the Skagit Valley. Although I am a Seattle native, I'm ashamed to admit I've never attended it. Perhaps this year. There are just fields and fields of gorgeous tulips all over. A true visual feast for the eyes.

Thanks for visiting! I hope your week is off to a great start!

Card details:
Cardstock and designer paper by PaperTrey Ink, Neenah (Classic Crest White); ribbon and stamp images by PaperTrey Ink; ink by PaperTrey Ink and Memento; button from my stash; Karen Foster pink floss; Copic markers; Stampin Up! label punch; We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper.

Poppy Seed Challenge #1

I love challenges and missed being able to play along and post my creations while my computer was down. Lisa Johnson from PaperTrey Ink is now hosting bi-monthly challenges on her blog. Please play along if you're so inclined! For this first challenge, there were three "seeds" to incorporate into your creation: a flower stamp, crystals, and light yellow.

Hero Arts has released some fun cling stamps over the last few months, and I picked up a couple of them. The loopy flower (which is part of a two stamp set) and damask background were among the first of my purchases. I used cardstock from PaperTrey Ink for my card base, the lavender mat layer and the label. The flower was colored in with Copics and a clear Spica glitter pen, and then the flower center was enhanced with three lavender rhinestones.

Thanks for looking! Have a great week!

Card Details:
Cardstock by PaperTrey Ink, Neenah; all stamps by Hero Arts; ink by Versamark and Memento; Copic and Spica markers; rhinestones from K & Company; label punch by Stampin' Up!; satin ribbon by Waste Not Paper.