Stamp-A-Faire 2013

I had lots of fun participating in SAF2013. I didn't really play along last year since I had to work on the Saturday.

This year was totally different, I had the day off, and I had two crafty friends that joined me in celebrating!

As is typical, when the three of us get together, the fun increases, but the productivity goes down a little. We each still got between 3-6 challenges done. I think the group favorite was the salt/watercolour technique. We each made 2 of those!

I was so inspired and I really wanted to get all 10 challenges done, so I planned out the rest of my projects last night and got to work. I'm only posting the challenge and the cards. Any supply list/instruction can come later, if there's a demand for it.

Breakfast Bake & Take

"Tea"-Staining

Rolled Dough Designs

Mixing Mists:

Sprinkle of Salt:

Gallon: Quart: Pint

Custom Accents from the Oven:

Scent-Sational Cards

Limited Supplies Challenge:

Sugar Coated Embellishments

Poppies bring Sunshine!

Good evening!

Here's post #2 of several!

I've had this poppy background for some time and haven't really used it. Finally I just sat down, stamped it out and got to colouring. And once you spend all that time colouring something, you don't want to cut it apart or cover it up, so it became my background. I made use of some old hodgepodge and twill ribbon and called it a day!

One thing that I still do (and it's by no means a new technique) is outline Copic coloured images with a grey marker. I've always liked the little pop it gives.

Supplies:
Stamps: Pleasant Poppies (SU!), Hello Sunshine (PTI)
Ink: Bamboo Leaves (Memento)
Paper: Real Red, Ripe Avocado, Very Vanilla
Accessories, etc: Twill, Pewter Hardware and Brads, Copics

Happy Patterns

Good morning.

In honour of trying to get this blog up and running and back to being a bit more of a presence in the stamping community, I present the first of many posts to come. 

This card is ridiculously simple. I decided to make use of one of my favourite colour combinations (blue and orange) and a fun mix of patterns (polka dots and lines).

I cannot recommend enough- get the wide style Sookwang tape! It is perfect for cutting out die-cut letters. What I do is cut a strip of the paper that is just wider than the die, then I put a piece of the tape on the back and cut it out. Voila! Instant sticker. This is SO much easier than taping the letters after the fact. For this purpose alone, I would suggest keeping various sizes of double-sided tape (with backing) in your stash- if you don't already.

Supplies:
Stamps: Stylish Sentiments: Birthday
Ink: Orange Zest
Paper: Various retired SU! paper, White
Accessories, etc.: Headline Alphabet dies

Awesome Day



I made this card a while back. I was wanting a fun birthday card with a slightly retro vibe. I thought it'd be fun to use the patterns from Mama Elephant's sets Trifecta and Basic Borders with the retro feel of WPlus9Designs So 80s. I did a bit of fussy cutting on the star and the sentiments and placed those over the stamped patterns.

 





Supplies:

• Stamps: Trifecta, Basic Borders (Mama Elephant) So 80s (WPlus9 Design Studios)
• Ink: Classic Kraft, New Leaf, Orange Zest, Summer Sunrise, Black Onyx
• Paper: White, Basic Black

Ombre Text

I was in the mood for something bold, ombre-styled, and simple. I went with traditional "masculine" colours, but I think it would be a lot of fun in almost any other colour combination!

 

This card started out with the alphabet stamps. I wanted to ink them up with 2 different shades. After I had that stamped, I just kind of kept going with mixing in other sentiments in other shades of orange. I was quite pleased with it. I almost left it without the button, but I didn't want a flat card.

 





Supplies:
Stamps: Headline Alphabet, Stylish Sentiments: Birthday, Inside & Out: Birthday, Think Big Favorites #1
Ink: Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, Canyon Clay, Terracotta Tile, Dark Chocolate
Paper: White, Summer Sunrise, Dark Chocolate
Accessories, etc.: button, baker's twine

It's been a while!

So to say that I've neglected this blog would be a bit of an understatement... This is the first post of 2013!

I was on a bit of a roll this weekend. I made 6 cards yesterday, some were for challenges,  some were for upcoming birthdays, but all were just for fun!! I saw this week's Tuesday Trigger and was inspired. I incorporated the butterfly, the touches of gold, and the ruffles into my card.

Since the image was also entitled Elegant Emerald, I was inspired to stick with an elegant style for you card. On the one butterfly that I popped up, I rocked it in the gold ink to give it a subtle glimmer.

Supplies:
Stamps: Beautiful Butterflies, Birds & Blooms (PTI)
Ink: Island Indigo, Versamark, Gold
Paper: Gold, Island Indigo
Accessories, etc.: Organza ribbon, gold cord, Island Indigo ruffled ribbon

A few holiday cards

I was planning out a few cards for my annual card making get-together, I was on a roll so I just kept making more. I keep meaning to use more felt. I finally picked up a metal shim for use with detailed dies and wow, does it ever make a difference! The spellbinders snowflakes cut out so nicely! I was in the mood for something bright and colourful and not terribly traditional.

For the second card, I just felt like decorating a tree.I stamped it, cut it out, wrapped it with baker's twine, attached a few buttons, and topped it with a star.

Supplies:
Card 1: Stamps: Stylish Sentiments: Holidays
Ink: Hawaiian Shores
Paper: White, Simply Chartreuse, Hawaiian Shores
Accessories, etc.: Spellbinders Snowflakes Die, Felt (Limeade Ice, Hawaiian Shores, Raspberry Fizz), Button, Twine, Photo Finish Strips Die

Card 2: Stamps: Think Big Favorites #21, Layered Postmarks: Holiday
Ink: Fine Linen, Ripe Avocado, Dark Chocolate
Paper: Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Vintage Cream
Accessories, etc.: buttons, baker's twine, corner rounder

Happy Anniversary

Here's a card I made a while back, I just wanted to make something with these fun notched flower dies and leaves. I'm pretty sure this one was inspired by a creation by Dawn McVey.

Supplies:
Stamps: Round and Rond
Paper: Daffodil Delight, Kraft, More Mustard, World Bazaar DSP and various other Stampin' Up papers
Ink: Dark Chocolate
Accessories, etc. Notched Flower die, Turning a New Leaf die, button, twine

Papertrey July Blog Hop Challenge

When I saw this month's inspiration photo over at PTI for the blog hop, I fell in love with the colour combination!

I really wanted to make sure I made use of all the colours, so it seemed appropriate to stamp out some floral background paper using all the colours. While cleaning up some items at my grandmother's place, I found this pretty eyelet lace. I didn't have any ribbon thin enough to weave through the eyelets, so I trimmed a thin piece of card stock and wove it through. It worked splendidly! I had to laugh once I was done though, I used almost the exact same layout as last month's PTI blog hop. Oh well, I guess it's a good one!!

Supplies: Stamps: Big & Bold Wishes, Beautiful Blooms II, Floral Frenzy
Ink: Summer Sunrise, Harvest Gold, Melon Berry, Berry Sorbet, Simply Chartreuse
Paper: Simply Chartreuse, White, Harvest Gold, Summer Sunrise, Berry Sorbet, Melon Berry
Accessories, etc.: Lace, Floral Dies, Summer Sunrise button

Grad Card

I saw this card and immediately wanted to make my own version. I did mine a little differently. Instead of popping up the numbers, I cut them out of the white layer and placed black paper behind. I also don't have a silhouette, but I do have some number dies.

I kept the dies exactly where I wanted by using post-it notes and running through one number at a time.

Then I added 2 rhinestones for a tiny bit of bling and a graduation sentiment.

Supplies:
Stamps: Movers & Shakers Sentiments
Ink: Black Onyx
Accessories, etc.: Rhinestones, By the Numbers die

Papertrey June Blog Hop Challenge

It's been a while since I've participated in one of Papertrey Ink's blog hops, but I saw the inspiration photo on the weekend, and I made a note to play along this month.

I used the colours and themes from the inspiration photo- light blue, green, yellow, ruffles and flowers.

Supplies:

• Stamps: Background Basics: Petal Power, It's a Jungle Out There
• Ink: Dark Chocolate, Aqua Mist
• Paper: Baja Breeze, Lemon Tart, Harvest Gold, Aqua Mist, Spring Moss
• Dies: Medium Scallop Die, Notched Flower Die
• Accessories, etc.: Ruffled Ribbon, Button, Twine

Things I have learned from moving....

Have you ever had to pack up and move your craft space. It is not that fun of a project. And throughout it all you're thinking to yourself- I just want to sit down and make something, but it's all in boxes. Here's a few things I've learned along the way...

• As awesome as it is to have a hobby, especially one that involves creating something, you don't just realize how much STUFF you have, until you have to pack it all up and move it. 
• Paper is really heavy.
• You also don't realize how much stuff you have that you don't want anymore or will never use again. I'm talking all sorts of product- boxes of old stamps, ribbon, paper, and more. It makes one feel wasteful and horribly consumptive. 
• I could probably hold off on buying anymore card stock for a long, long, long time. I have that little bit of crafter's OCD, where I'm down to 10 sheets of one colour, and I'm all "oh no, I better get another pack". 
• I packed all my full sheets of paper away weeks ago, and sorted all my scraps into colour families. I've been using that only for the last month, and you know what, it's been okay. I've had more than enough paper to choose from. The odd time where I didn't have the colour in the size I wanted, I just used something else. I'm thinking I'll unpack the paper packs, but will continue to not use them until absolutely necessary.
• You quickly realize the ridiculousness of hoarding supplies...If you buy something because you love it, use it! Otherwise sure enough, you'll come across it years later and think it's tacky or untrendy and question why you ever bought it and held on to it. I like to think this is a bit avoidable because I consider my current style of clean and simple, a classic. Of course, it took me several years before I found that to be my preference, so I have all sorts of stuff that doesn't really mesh as well now.
• This is a tricky one, and it's really more of a "hindsight" type thing. When you start out, it's all so overwhelming, and really you just want to get as much cool stuff as possible. So maybe you go and get the bargain card stock, and the cheap ribbon and the not so great quality stamps, But you know what, quality ends up winning anyway. Even though you didn't want to "waste money" on those expensive items, if you stick with the hobby, you'll end up buying the good stuff anyway. And then you're not actually saving any money.

Here's a card as well:

I made this one a while back, I also made it in 3 other colour combinations (aqua mist/hawaiian shores; lemon tart/summer sunrise; and spring moss/ ripe avocado). I really liked it in every colour combination.

Supplies: Stamps: It's a Jungle Out There (birthday sentiment)

Ink: Dark Chocolate

Paper: Dark Chocolate, Raspberry Fizz, Hibiscus Burst, White

Accessories, etc: Block Alphabet die, By the Numbers impression plate, Hibiscus Burst ribbon, twine, button

Congrats Clothesline

A few weeks back my mom had a specific request for me- she had seen a cute congratulations card where the letters were hung out on a clothesline.

Well, as luck would have I had ordered these tiny clothespins on a bit of a whim, and was just itching for the chance to use them. Although the card itself is quite simple, it took a bit making sure the spacing was decent. I attached the string loosely to the back of the teal card stock, then I placed the letters to the string with tape. I started in the middle with the G and the R. Next up was adding the clothespins. I added a glue dot to the back of each pin so it would stay down. Due to the weight of the pins, the string naturally took the nice wide-U type shape.  Finally I added a few felt clouds. I've got a few more packages of these adorable clothespins, so I may yet try this again.

Supplies:
Paper: Taken with Teal, Old Olive, Metropolis (discontinued Scenic Route paper)
Die: Block Alphabet Upper,  Cloud 1 and 2
Accessories, etc. Felt, Mini Clothespins, string

Sometimes...

Sometimes you just feel like making something quick, simple, and pretty.

I was having fun using this floral punch, and put together a little something. First, I stamped some cardstock full of dots and punched out the flower. Then I placed a layer of vellum overtop and added a button embellishment. I actually made the leaves out of the petals as well. I was feeling very into patterns, so I added a bit of wordy background stamping. Finally, I pieced it all together, used a mega sized sentiment, rounded my corners, and called it a day!

Supplies:
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics II, Text Style II, Think Big 13
Ink: Dark Chocolate, Aqua Mist
Paper: Vintage Cream, Lemon Tart, Aqua Mist, Simply Chartreuse, Vellum
Accessories, etc.: Corner Rounder, Button, Baker's Twine

Bright Butterflies

I needed to make somewhat of a specific and unique card the other day. It was for a couple that was granted guardianship of their foster daughter. There really aren't too many stamps available that fit the bill, so I figured I'd go with something that fit the whole situation. They had put in a lot of hard work, and with guardianship granted, it seemed to me that their wish had finally come true.

Supplies:
Stamps: Beautiful Butterflies, Night Night Moon
Ink: Simply Chartreuse, Dark Chocolate, Orange Zest, Raspberry Fizz, Hawaiian Shores
Paper: White, Raspberry Fizz, Hawaiian Shores

A Superstar kind of birthday

I finally picked up the adorable Outlines Alphabet from Papertrey Ink. You know how it goes, a set catches your eye, but you keep putting off getting it. Well, I had to sit down almost right away and put something together with it.

Anyway, it's a pretty basic card. I arranged the letters on a grid block, stamped them, then coloured them in with Copics and Spica markers. I added in a greeting from It's a Jungle Out There (I really, really like that font the Happy Birthday is in). Next I added a mat and some punched out stamped stars. I put that all together on a starry backdrop. The card is 6.5x3.875.

Supplies:

• Stamps: Outline Alphabet, Star Prints, It's a Jungle Out There
• Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, White
• Ink:Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Tuxedo Black
• Accessories, etc.: Copic markers, Spica markers, pop dots

Wild & Crazy

Well, not really... but the card does feature a zebra. I really liked the touch of the Pool Party ribbon with grey and white, so that kind of inspired this card. I stamped the stripes first with black, then stamped over with white pigment ink, and then I cut it out. I like how the white ink subdued the black just a bit.

The card is very basic in design since I wanted the zebra to remain the focus.

Supplies:

• Stamps: It's a Jungle Out There
• Ink: Black Onyx, Fresh Snow
• Paper: White, Smoky Shadow, Pool Party
• Accessories, etc.: Limitless Layers- 1-3/4 circle, Animal Prints Impression Plate, Pool Party ruffled ribbon

Christmas Card Class

This weekend, I decided to put together a Christmas card class for a few friends. It was a lot of fun! The get together started with 4 structured cards, and then afterwards, everyone just did their own thing with the supplies leftover.

The first card was this one. It's super simple, especially with the use of the scor-tape sheets, it makes the process so much faster. Basically, adhere the sheet to a piece of cardstock, die cut your shape, then sprinkle glitter liberally. It's not a good stamp class unless everyone leaves with a bit of glitter on them, ha!

Supplies- Vintage Ornaments die, Big & Bold Holiday Wishes, Silver Ink, Tempting Turquoise Paper, Glitter, Rhinestones

Next up, I wanted to showcase Copic markers. This card doesn't exactly use them to their full potential, but it's nice to do a bit of colouring now and then. I also wanted to show what I call the "sneaky bow" technique, where you use string to make the bow, instead of tying it.

Supplies: Classic Christmas, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Satin Ribbon, Copics, Button, Rich Cocoa Ink

The next card was a bit more fussy, but I think it was the favorite. Most people didn't seem to want to have to give it away! I used the Love Lives Here: Holiday and matching dies to make the little stockings, added a bit of baker's twine for whimsy, applied the woodgrain texture plate to the paper, and also made use of rustic colours. I quite like how it turned out too!

The final planned card made use of embossing. It's always a nice and simple, yet sharp technique that goes over well with all levels of stampers.

I used Snowflake Serenade and Stylish Sentiments: Holiday on Night of Navy paper. I also went with one of my basic, fall to layouts. I use this one all the time.

So, afterwards, there were some leftover components from the card kits, and I had brought out all my holiday stamps, and it was a bit of a chaotic, but fun free for all. I even ended up making a few more cards.

This one, using Classic Christmas and Stylish Sentiments, and a bit more colouring. I quite liked the teal, light aqua, and gold colour combination.

And this super simple one layer card with just a small embellishment pop with the bow, using a Wreath for All Seasons.

It was a lot of fun, everyone left with at least 5 cards, and I think there may just be a birthday card class in the future!

Reach for the Sky!

I saw that I hadn't actually posted anything here in May yet, oops! So here's a "reject" from a recent publication call.

Cut out 2 curved pieces of Pear Pizzazz paper. Stamp background images on each, adhere to Baja Breeze panel. Stamp clouds and kite image to Baja Breeze. Stamp kite image onto white card stock, cut out and adhere with foam tape. Stamp sentiment. Mat main image on Orange Zest, then onto white card.

• Stamps: Up, Up, and Away, Up, Up, and Away sentiments, Background Basics: Petal Power
• Ink: Orange Zest, Certainly Celery, Fresh Snow, Onyx Black
• Paper: White, Orange Zest, Pear Pizzazz, Baja Breeze

Size: 4.5x5.25

PTI April Blog Hop!

This month's blog hop is dedicated to all the boys and men in our lives! Now is your chance to create Father's Day projects, boy birthday cards and more to build up your stash! Focus on masculine color schemes, fresh pattern combinations, understated embellishments and unique uses of images you may already have in your stash!

I decided to make a technique based card. I'm sure there's an actual name for this technique, but I haven't actually watched any tutorials about it. I started off with a piece of

acetate. I scribbled various colours of Copic markers all over it. Then I spritzed alcohol on it to give it a speckled and blended look. I flipped it over and stamped some images from Leaf Prints on it with Stazon. I attached that to a piece of vanilla cardstock by using a large piece of Scor-Tape. Then everything else kind of fell into place.

Supplies:

• Stamps: Leaf Prints, Masculine Motifs (Papertrey Ink)
• Paper:Vanilla, Dark Chocolate
• Ink: Stazon Timber Brown
• Accessories, etc: Various Copics in the YR Family, Wood button, baker's twine, twill ribbon, acetate

A more complex take on FTL134

So I was just playing around with new stuff, cutting out some dies and doing a bit of stamping, (basically putting together my own embellishments) when I decided I needed to actually make use of them. I tend to put together all sorts of embellishments, but then I end up leaving them in my completed folder for ages. I looked at what I had put together and realized that it would work nicely with my clean and simple fall to layout sketch this week!

Supplies (all supplies by Papertrey Ink):

• Stamps: Love Lives Here, Textstyle I,
• Ink: Scarlet Jewel, Pure Poppy, Dark Chocolate
• Paper: White, Dark Chocolate, Scarlet Jewel
• Accessories, etc.: Love Lives Here dies

MIM: Blending Inks

Since I had the day off, I figured I'd have a go at the latest PTI challenge. The challenge was to blend inks. Whenever I think of this technique, I have a hard time not putting together a sunset or sunrise theme. So I really wanted to break out of that box and do something different.

I started by stamping the Chrysanthemums and

leaves on my paper. Next I chose my colour palette (Paris Lights, Summer Sunrise, Orangerie for the flowers; Spring Moss, Simply Chartreuse, Ripe Avocado for the leaves; Aqua Mist for the background). I started with the lightest colour in the middle of the stamped images and worked in a circular motion outwards.

Once I was done the flowers and leaves, I added in the Aqua Mist. Next, I wasn't totally satisfied with how it looked so I inked up a text background with Chai Tea ink (I love using these on background stamps, they blend so nicely into the scene.

The final step was to add a greeting on a punched out label and decorate it with a button and a bit of ribbon and string.

Supplies:

• Stamps: Year of Flowers: Mums, Textstyle II, Round and Round (all PTI)
• Ink: Paris Lights, Summer Sunrise, Orangerie, Spring Moss, Simply Chartreuse, Ripe Avocado, Aqua Mist, Dark Chocolate
• Paper: Orange Zest, Ripe Avocado, White,
• Accessories, etc.: Modern Label punch, ribbon, button, string

MIM: Impression Plates

Unfortunately, I didn't find the time last week to join in on PTI's Make It Monday challenge. This week however, I had to try the technique. The challenge was to use your impression plates to cover only part of your paper. You can check out the technique here.

Here's my card:

I went clean and simple with my design (shocking, I know!). I tried a few different things with the impression plate, but it wasn't exactly working out, so I took the easy approach. I haven't used much of my felt stash recently, so I decided to make a layered blossom.

I really like these fancy swirly buttons (found in the Vintage Cream button collection), but the big loop on the back always deterred me from using them. I took my old Stampin' Up rubber cutting scissors and carefully cut into the plastic loop. It took two takes to get it down to a manageable level. Since it was a bit rough after that, I stuck it into a dimensional glue dot, and stuck that to my felt flower.

Supplies:

• Stamps: Birthday Basics
• Ink: Dark Chocolate
• Paper: Rustic Cream, Aqua Mist, Pure Poppy
• Accessories, etc.: Pure Poppy, Dark Chocolate, Ocean Tides Felt; Blossoms Die; Button; Diamonds impression plate, Scor-It

MIM- Fun Foam

When I first saw the latest MIM challenge I had all sorts of interesting ideas about what to do. When I watched the video, I was reminded of how I too had made my own stamps using various fun foam shapes. However, when I went to get started, the fun foam was nowhere to be found. I searched through some closets and found a few hearts and flowers. I managed to find a few pieces that were big enough to stamp and cut out.

I really wanted to make something with the number dies. Fun foam is the perfect medium for making stamps out of these dies! But, the pieces I found where definitely not big enough to try!

Here's my card.

I decided to use the fun foam for the balloon tops. It seemed like a good fit, texturally. Due to colour choices available in the fun foam, I went with some bright colour pairings- Pacific Point for the sky and Only Orange for the tag.

Supplies:

• Stamps: Up, Up, and Away (PTI)
• Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Fresh Snow
• Paper: Only Orange, Pacific Point, White
• Accessories, etc: Fun Foam, Double Ended Tags

MIM: Glitter Strips

I had some spare time to try my hand at the latest Papertrey Ink Make It Monday challenge. This week's challenge was to use glitter strips. I used Scor-Tape a few ways on the card. First, I stamped the rainbow, cut it out, coloured it with Copics, then stuck that to a sheet of Scor-Tape. I put together my sky scene, then decided to add a glitter border to the white card base (just in case my rainbow didn't count as using a"strip"of Scor-Tape). Besides, what's a little more glitter, right?

Supplies:

• Stamps: Up & Up and Away (plus sentiments)
• Ink:Fresh Snow, Tuxedo Black
• Paper: Pacific Point, Real Red, White
• Accessories, etc.: Cloud die Vintage Cream felt, Scor-Tape (1/4'' and sheets), glitter

MIM: Vellum Sentiment Strip Challenge

I have to say, it's nice to be doing a regular challenge (besides my weekly CAS sketch card)! I am enjoying PTI's Make It Monday challenges (it's always nice to have the possibility of winning something too)

I wanted to do something a little bit different than the typical sentiment strip. It's not much as far as "out of the box" goes, but I decided to fancy up one edge of the strip with a scallop punch. I used to never use Perfect Plum, but I really like it with these other colours.



Supplies:

• Stamps: Beautiful Blooms II, Big Birthday Wishes
• Ink: Scarlet Jewel, Perfect Plum, Sweet Blush, Dark Chocolate
• Paper: White, Vellum, Sweet Blush, Perfect Plum, Scarlet Jewel
• Accessories, etc.: Scallop edge punch, By the Numbers die

Combo Challenge

When I heard the news that fellow Clean & Simple Stamping blogger Heather Pulvirenti was starting up a bi-weekly colour challenge, I knew I had to join in the fun! Colour challenges are a great way to get those creative juices flowing. One thing I really like about colour challenges, is I usually have NO idea what I will end up making, I pretty much let the colours dictate my card theme and layout.

So here is the colour lineup for Heather's first Totally Hues challenge. Isn't it delightful?

I had also decided to make another entry for PTI's Make It Monday challenge (use lots of one type of sentiment on a card), so that also came into play for the whole process. Whenever I want to do a colour challenge, the first thing I do (and I'm sure I'm not alone) is grab a sheet or scrap of each colour and see how it all looks together. These colours shouting out "HAPPY!", so I decided I'd make a birthday card. I also have a ton of birthday sentiments, so that worked well for the sentiment part of the challenge. I had a loose piece of paper on my table that had a few sketches on it, so I decided to go with one of those.

Finally, here's the card:

Supplies:

• Stamps: Cupcake Collections, Big & Bold Wishes, It's a Celebration, Birthday Bash Greetings, Birthday Basics, Faux Ribbon (all by Papertrey Ink)
• Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Hibiscus Burst, Daffodil Delight
• Paper: White, Simply Chartreuse, Hibiscus Burst, Hawaiian Shores, Harvest Gold
• Accessories, etc.: Eyelet Border Punch, Corner Rounder, Limitless Layers Die-1-3/4

More PTI Anniversary Challenges

Here's my entry for today's challenge of "Thinking Big". Whenever I need a big sentiment, I think of these great greetings in Big and Bold Wishes. The main greetings are also in one of my favorite fonts!


I still love how teal and brown go together, so that's what I went with on here. The greeting is actually stamped with Stampin' Up!'s Early Espresso, but it photographed almost black. I hadn't used the button bow technique in a while so I figured I'd do that. That technique is where you loop the ribbon, tie a knot in the center with string to actually cheat making the bow, then add your button on top- I know I found out how to do this from a video, but I cannot remember who posted it, sorry!


Size:6-3/4x3-3/4
Supplies:

• Stamps: In Bloom, Big & Bold Wishes(Papertrey Ink)
• Ink: Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip, Taken with Teal (Stampin' Up!)
• Paper: White, Taken with Teal, Chocolate Chip
• Ribbon/String:5/8 inch Satin Ribbon- Teal Michaels, Baker's Twine Dark Chocolate v
• Button- Dark Chocolate(Papertrey Ink)
• Punch:Border Punch- Diamond Lace (EK Success)

Colour Challenge

As much as I would have loved to tackle all of the colour challenges presented for today's PTI anniversary challenge, I just didn't have enough time in my day! I did manage to squeeze one quick card in though. I decided to use Nichole's colour combo:

I wanted to follow the challenge exactly, so I didn't even bring in a neutral!

I thought these colours would work nicely for a masculine card. I pulled out Masculine Motifs and got to work. I went with one of my fall to layouts. I added the leaves in dark chocolate to the side panel, it didn't seem finished though, so I stamped over that with a Text Style background.

Supplies:

• Stamps: Masculine Motifs, Background Basics: Text Style II
• Ink: Terracotta Tile, Melon Berry, Dark Chocolate
• Paper: Dark Chocolate, Kraft, Melon Berry, Terracotta Tile
• Accessories, etc.: Button, String, Corner rounder

Go To Sentiments

I decided to try something a little different for the Make It Monday challenge. I always make birthday cards and I have SO many birthday sentiments, but I didn't want to rely on those. I decided, instead, to make a baby card. It was fun going through all my PTI sets to see how many great sentiments there are for baby cards!

I stamped a few practice versions on scrap paper to see what looked best, then once I stamped everything on the Kraft, I decided I needed to add a few embellishments. I went with glitter and stars!

Supplies:

• Stamps: Mixed Messages, Bitty Baby Blessings, Baby Button Bits, Baby: Inside and Out, Star Prints
• Ink: Rich Cocoa
• Paper: Kraft, Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores
• Accessories, etc.: Sticky Sheets, Glitter, Glue pen, pop dots, Star punch

Quick Tag Post #2

As many stampers are aware, Papertrey Ink's anniversary celebrations are underway. Today's contest is an awesome one- the prize is a chance to develop a stamp set with Nichole Heady. I've always wanted to design stamps, so this prize has me quite excited.



Here's my card featuring Nichole's Tag. I decided to use the colours as the rest of my inspiration once again- Ocean Tides, Aqua Mist, and Hawaiian Shores. I thought it'd be fun to mix all sorts of frames here, so I matted the tag on a circle, then put that on Fillable Frames #4. I finished it off by adding everything to a polka dotted stamped scalloped square.

I found that the circle images seemed to work nicely on 4.25 square cards.

Quick Tag Post #1

As many stampers are aware, Papertrey Ink's anniversary celebrations are underway. Today's contest is an awesome one- the prize is a chance to develop a stamp set with Nichole Heady. I've always wanted to design stamps, so this prize has me quite excited.

I would have loved to use all 9 free tag images today, but time is always one's enemy. I managed to get two done. The first one uses Dawn's patterned image. The second card can be seen on the next post.

I decided to pair it with Limitless Layers- Circles, a Double Ended Banner die, and some Diamonds Impression Plate ( as well as Hawaiian Shores, Raspberry Fizz, Dark Chocolate, and Summer Sunrise).