PTI November Blog Hop

When I saw that this month's challenge was to make holiday tags, I knew I had to play along. I decided to have fun and put a little extra something into these tags. Normally, I make a lot of very boring, generic tags for putting on wrapped gifts, so I had fun putting these together!

The challenge:
Design a holiday tag or two using all of your favorite goodies and share it with all of us! We will all have plenty of inspiration to create a large stash and try to get ahead of the hustle and bustle of the season!

I made 3 tags. The first one took a while, since I wanted to get the design just so. Once I had that all worked out, the next 2 came together quickly. I decided to use each of the tin type backgrounds throughout the tags. I used felt to mat the circles.

And here's one of the tags jazzing up this tin:

Supplies:

• Stamps: Background Basics: Tin Types, Peace Be Still, Inside and Out: Holidays
• Ink: Real Red, Landscape, Early Espresso
• Paper: Vintage Cream, Pure Poppy, Simply Chartreuse, Dark Chocolate
• Accessories, etc.: Limitless Layers 1-3/4 Circle Collection, Mat Stack 1, Felt, Buttons
  

September 2010 Papertrey Blog Hop

I'm glad that this month's hop is an all day event, it gives me time to post something! So this month's challenge...

One of the most fun things about this hobby is the people you meet, whether in person or online, and the things you learn from them. Now is your chance to show off any skills you might have learned from a fellow stamper, and perhaps even give them a little shout out to thank them for the inspiration they have provided. Create a project using one of your favorite learned skills and perhaps after a little blog hopping, we will ALL learn some new tips and tricks and continue to pass on the love of this hobby!

A "skill" I've picked up on from several amazing fellow crafters, is the art of making one's own embellishments- especially the layered flower. I've been cardmaking for over 6 years now, and have always loved the idea of making my own embellishments, but only in the last year have I really started making my own layered flowers. There's tons of inspiration out there!
Dawn McVey has lots of fun cards featuring handmade floral embellishments and instructions to paper flowers here. Michelle Wooderson has a great eye for piecing together mixed media flowers. Just the other day she had a wonderful post up on her blog.

Here's my card:Supplies:

• Stamps: Birthday Bash Greetings
• Ink: Rich Cocoa
• Paper: Harvest Gold, Simply Chartreuse, Vintage Cream, Dark Chocolate
• Accessories, etc.: Felt, Thread, Button, Vanilla ribbon, scalloped die, corner rounder

FTL100 Blog Hop!

In honour of the 100th sketch over at the Clean & Simple Stamping blog, we've organized a small blog hop! Here's the list of designers:

• Angie Tieman
• Becky Carafa
• Harriet Skelly
• Heather Pulvirenti
• Iwona Palamountain
• Jen Carter
• Julie Ebersole
• Julie Lacey
• Kelly Jo
• Lea Lawson
• Natasha  (you are here)
• Silke Ledlow
• Susan Raihala

Here's my card for the sketch: Supplies: Stamps: Up, Up and Away Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Simply Chartreuse, White Ink: Raspberry Fizz, Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, Black Accessories, etc.: Scallop edge punch, Sunshine impression plate, green satin ribbon If you play along, be sure to leave your link at the CAS blog!

Papertrey Ink June Blog Hop Challenge

Good afternoon! I was in the mood for something fun and summery for my challenge card. I went with Raspberry Fizz, Orange Zest, Hawaiian Shores, Simply Chartreuse, and White. I just received my latest PTI order yesterday, so I had to make use of it! I love the balloons in Up, Up, and Away and the Sunshine plate is just fun to use! I decided to use it to make some fun hill tops. I decided to use this as a graduation card for my cousin. The family is having a dinner in her honour later today to celebrate.

Supplies:
Stamps: Up Up and Away (plus sentiment set), Round and Round
Paper: Hawaiian Shores, Orange Zest, Simply Chartreuse, White
Ink: Black, Hawaiian Shores, Raspberry Fizz
Accessories, etc.: pop dots, Sunshine Impression Plate

I can't wait to see what everyone else does for this blog hop, I'm sure to find some new colour combinations that I must try!

Papertrey May Blog Hop Challenge

This month's hop is all about felt! I decided to make a 3-d flower embellishment out of felt. I present to you the most impractical card for mailing! I ended up using my FTL sketch from last week. It just worked well with the flower!

I thought the Hawaiian Shores, Raspberry Fizz, Dark Chocolate, and Kiwi Kiss made for a fun and fresh colour combination! I used Kiwi Kiss in place of Simply Chartreuse, since I don't have it yet, hopefully it's a decent substitute!

Supplies: Stamps: Signature Greetings, Background Basics: Tin Type Ink: Bermuda bay, Dark Chocolate Paper: Kiwi Kiss, White, Dark Chocolate, Hawaiian Shores Accessories, etc.: Large Scallops Die, Beautiful Blooms Die #1

I modified this post's instructions to work with the 6-sided die. I cut out 3 flowers and used those to make my felt flower. I am super impatient, so I used sticky strip to hold the pieces together. It's holding together quite well. In place of chartreuse felt, I broke the fibers of some Kiwi Kiss cardstock, cut that into 2 leaf shapes, added a center score line to each, then curled them a bit more for dimension.

PTI Blog Hop

It's time for another Papertrey Ink blog hop. Because this month's falls on the weekend, I had plenty of time to make a few projects! The theme this month: It's time for our annual Holiday Hop! Show us your best upcoming holiday plans for cards, gifts, wraps or whatever else you have up your sleeve!

I decided to make a few Christmas Cards.

First up: using a non-holiday set to make a holiday card. I thought these 2 images from Guidelines II would look Christmas-y in red and green. Add in a sentiment and a bit of embossing with nestabilities, and you've got yourself a quick holiday card!

Next up: using up more patterned paper. I've made a card somewhat similar to this one before, but I thought it'd be fun with different papers.

Finally, I really wanted to make a Christmas card using the colour pink. Using that as my inspiration, I decided it'd be fun to combine the Fancy Flourishes with some snowflakes, making a blustery winter scene.

Supplies: Stamps: Fancy Flourishes, Snowflake Snowflake, Tree Trimmings Trio, Guidelines II Ink: Sweet Blush, Dark Chocolate, Gold, Ripe Avocado, Garnet Jewel Paper: White, Dark Chocolate, Sweet Blush, Vintage Cream Accessories, etc. pop dots, pearls, gold cord, rectangle nestabilities

August Blog Hop

This month's theme is using Autumn as your inspiration. With the textures, colours, and patterns of autumn being so beautiful, it's hard not to be inspired!

I decided to try something slightly different. I wanted to make a leafy background using the leaves from In Bloom, however, I really didn't feel like colouring each and every one. So, I decided to get a bit messy. I stamped the leaves onto vanilla cardstock, spritzed the paper with water several times, then went in with an aquapainter and various reinkers. I dabbed the inks wherever and let it spread around. Once I was happy with how it turned out, I heated it to speed up drying, then I stamped one of the scripted word backgrounds from Text Style over the paper. The finished result reminds me of a colourful forest floor full of fallen leaves!

For textures, I used some textured cardstock as my base and I couldn't resist trying the ruffled ribbon technique a la Lisa Johnson. What a fun way to add a little something to the card! I finally found my imperial edged scissors, so I decided to add a fancy border to the bottom of the homemade patterned paper.

To finish it all off, I cut out and watercoloured the 3-leaf sprig and added the perfect autumn sentiment- happy harvest.

Thanks for coming by, I can't wait to see everyone else's projects!

Supplies:

Stamps: In Bloom, Vintage Picnic, Text Style Background Basics

Ink: Rich Cocoa, Tangerine Tango, Ridinghood Red, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie

Paper: Vanilla, Textured Brown, Pumpkin Pie, Scarlet Jewel
Accessories, etc.: Water Spritzer, ribbon, reinkers, Imperial edged scissors, pop dots

Starving Artistamps/Doodle Factory Blog Hop!

Welcome to our new release BLOG HOP! We are super excited to present our newest DoodleFactory release CLASSIC DECOR. Our designers have been having a blast working with these new images. It is with great pleasure that we also have some super talented special guests joining us for this hop. Be sure to visit ALL the stops on our hop because one of us has a complete collection of the new Classic Decor release to giveaway as blog candy! The first stop in our hop is with the incredibly talented Donna Duquette. From there she will direct you to the next stop on the hop. Here is the complete list in case you get lost somewhere along the way: START HERE: http://starvingartistamps.blogspot.com/ Donna Duquette Juliana Swanson Donna Baker Kathy Daume' Lori Tecler Lydia Fiedler Andrea Cloutier Natasha (you are here) Irene Silva Dawn Mercedes Jenn McMillan Nina Aaslund Laura Davis Kazan Clark Tracey Berkey Our new releases are already loaded in our shop, ready for immediate shipping and... for the next 3 days we are offering a blog hop special. Buy the complete classic decor stamps and sentiments collection (both the classic decor stamp set and the coordinating classic decor sentiment set) and get all the cling cushion you need for the two sets FREE! You can find the new stamps here: CLASSIC DECOR STAMPS:found here! CLASSIC DECOR SENTIMENTS: found here! Thanks for visiting with us today! We hope you find tons of inspiration and have lots of fun visiting with our designers!

Here are my creations. Let me tell you, this set really brought out the interior decorator in me. I've never used paper piecing much, but these pieces just beg to be stamped on your favorite designer papers and arranged!

First up a classic room setting- I used Scenic Route papers, from a Christmas collection here. The lamp cord was created by cutting a piece of cardstock ultra thin and breaking the fibers in it so it became more string like.

Next up, I was dying to use some Basic Grey. These patterns are from the Sugared collection. This one ended up having a bit of a "Mrs. Claus invites you for tea" vibe. The window was made by stamping the decorative panels onto vellum and colouring them with Copics. I used Stamper's Magic Tape to adhere them to the window.

You know I couldn't participate in a blog hop without at least one clean and simple type card. I embossed the chandelier, coloured it with Spicas, cut it out, and then placed that on a shimmery textured background.

For my final card, I wanted to show how well previous DoodleFactory creatures fit in with the scenery. Here, I've replaced Numnum's cookies with a bit of wine. He's getting an early start on the anniversary festivities! The papers for this one came from Basic Grey's Two Scoops

Be sure to continue on to the next blog hop stop: Irene Silva- DoodleFactory illustrator and cardmaker extraordinaire.

April Blog Hop!

This month's challenge was to use one of Lauren Meader's Timeless Templates. I really love the "From the Desk of" template. It's such a fun one and it's quite sturdy! I've made a few already, but I wanted to try something a little bit different for the blog hop. I decided it'd be fun to make two of the organizers and stick them together. I printed out the template twice on PTI's white cardstock. Then I printed out the decorative mats onto Aqua Mist and used the flowers from Friends 'til the End and stamped out some pretty paper. I put each template together, then stuck them to each other. I thought a basic style handle would be fun, so I adhered 2 strips of 11x1 inch white cardstock together, then attached those to the organizers. I reinforced those with 2 brads on each side. I thought this would be really cute if you left out the divider, kind of like the old style milk bottle cartons.

I decided to put my new organizer to use right away. I found that each division fits about 22 Copics (sketch or original), making the entire ensemble able to fit 88 markers. And the handle is sturdy enough and well attached that you can lug the whole thing around. I tested it out!

Supplies:

Stamps: Friends 'til the End

Ink: Ocean Tides, Fresh Snow, Dark Chocolate

Paper: PTI White, Aqua Mist

Accessories, etc.: Scor-Tape, From the Desk of Timeless Template, Chocolate Brads, 1/16th hole punch

Blog Hop Time

I don't always get the chance to participate in these, but when I do, I certainly enjoy them! The theme this time was all things spring. And with the 5-15 cm (maybe more?) of snow we received yesterday, I am beyond ready for spring!

This card took WAY too long. I kept fiddling with the little details. I wanted the ribbon, buttons, scallops and the rabbit on there, and getting it all to fit was a bit more complicated than I had anticipated. I also realized that I don't have many Easter or Spring sentiments. Perhaps I never realized a lack in this area since this is probably only the second Spring/Easter card I have ever made? It's just not something I usually do. I don't send Easter cards to people. And spring, well, it's one of those funny things, more often than not, there's not much of a transition between winter and summer. All of a sudden it's hot and the snow is finally all melted.

Supplies: Stamps: Mixed Messages, Bitty Baby Blessings

Ink: Dark Chocolate

Cardstock: White, Sweet Blush, Lemon Tart, Dark Chocolate

Accessories, etc.: buttons (from Walmart years ago), dental floss, Sweet Blush Stitched Grosgrain, pop dots, scalloped nestabilities

Hop!

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Check out Heidi's blog for the next stop in our blog hop. You're going to want to visit all the other blogs because one of us has some great blog candy to give away! Here is the complete list in case you just started hopping from here: Juliana Swanson http://stampinwinkyfingers.blogspot.com/ Lisa Somerville http://www.lisasomerville.com/ Donna Baker http://stampamaniac.blogspot.com/ Donna Duquette http://www.deesstudio.blogspot.com/ Kathy Daume' http://www.kathy-prettyinink.blogspot.com/ Lori Tecler http://www.inkingaloud.blogspot.com/ Lydia Fiedler http://www.understandblue.blogspot.com/ Andrea Cloutier http://andreasscraps.com/ Natasha http://palmtreesandpogosticks.blogspot.com/ Heidi Kingery http://www.sweetheidijo.blogspot.com/ Leigh O'Brien http://sunflowerstudio.typepad.com/sunflower_studio/ Irene Silva http://doodlefactory.blogspot.com/ To the new releases: http://www.starvingartistamps.com/

Here's my first card. It uses the amazing Urban background. I LOVE this background and I had way too much fun with this card. It's got 4 layers of dimension. I started with a cityscape colour appropriate card base and built up from there. It was all coloured with Copics.

For my second card I wanted to do something a bit softer, especially since it was the countryside landscape. I went with pencil crayons and mineral spirits. I thought the little version of Basel the sheep was so perfect, especially with that sentiment. The nice thing about the miniature versions of the DoodleFactory Animals and Creatures is that they fit so nicely in this landscape! I love it!

Next up is a bit of a jungle scene. I knew that if I coloured this with markers or pencil crayons it would look similar (i.e. a LOT of green) to a brayered effect, so I took the less time consuming route on this one. Note that getting brayered backgrounds just right isn't necessarily easier than colouring!I added a bit of shading and other highlighting to the background then added in the monkeys. I thought it'd be cute it have the greeting on a little flag!

Finally is a card featuring the tropics background. I knew I had to do a sunset sky theme here. So I got out the glossy cardstock and started sponging. I cut out the background and adhered it over top. I really wanted a sparkly ocean, so I got out the stickles. I was having issues with it (I thought that stuff was non-settling!), so I squeezed onto a scrap piece of paper until enough finally came out. Then I took a paint brush and painted over the blue. I am quite happy with the effect- no globs and an even coverage! To the left is an up close and personal look at the glittering, glistening ocean. Paradise found seemed like the perfect greeting.

Here's the completed card. Other than the background, which was made using various dye inks, the entire card was coloured with Copics.

Be sure to check out everyone else on the blog hop. I cannot wait to see what everyone else did with the background images. I had even more fun than I expected with them!

Blog Hop

For the past few months I've been meaning to participate in Papertrey Ink's Blog Hop. When I saw that this month's theme was polka dots, how could I resist?? I actually forgot that today was the 25th, so I relied on an "old stand-by" layout, as I whipped this one together in 20 minutes or so. I changed it up a bit, since I added these cool mulberry primas I bought last week. They coordinate so nicely with Berry Sorbet! I finished the flowers off with pearls, since that went well with the shine of the satin ribbon.

Can't wait to see what everyone else did!

Supplies:

Stamps: Birthday Basics, Polka Dot Basics

Ink: Berry Sorbet, White Craft

Paper: Pink Patterns, Berry Sorbet, Kraft, White

Accessories, etc.: Mulberry Primas, half pearls, satin ribbon