PTI MIM #193: Camouflaging Die Cuts

Laura's technique of camouflaging die cuts was this week's challenge on Nichole's blog for Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday. Having only a little bit of time between baking and watching the Seahawks' game today, I managed to review her video and make my attempt. My blending obviously needs some practice, but here it is anyway. Sorry for the poor quality photo, but it's late at night.

I blended (I guess you'd call it that) Spring Rain, Winter Wisteria and Royal Velvet after masking off the top part of my white panel. Then I die cut the word "thanks" from Wet Paint Cuts Dies so I could stack three more under it so it would be raised up and stand out as the focal image. In the white space above I stamped small snowflakes from In The Meadow using Spring Rain and Winter Wisteria inks. Punching each side with a 1/2" circle punch provided the perfect place to wrap twine and tie in a bow. I used SU dimensionals to adhere this to the white card base. 

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: White

Ink: Spring Rain, Winter Wiseria and Royal Velvet

Stamps: In The Meadow

Dies: Wet Paint Cuts Die

Other: Twinery Twine, SU Dimensionals and 1/2" circle punch

PTI MIM #192: Tab Closure Tri-fold Card

Well, I should have been mass producing more Christmas cards this afternoon, but instead I decided I really want/need to win a Papertrey Ink gift certificate. The release this month is incredible. I swear they keep increasing the number of new products every release. However, Betsy did such a beautiful job with her video tutorial explaining how to make a tri-fold card with a tab closure. Let me just say that I didn't find it as easy as she makes it look. Her card here is incredible. Next time I'd just use dimensionals and tuck in the tab closure. The exacto and I didn't get along too well…maybe I used too many layers of paper in my design. (wink) Without further ado, here it is.

I used coordinating papers from MME Winter Wonderland paper pad on an Ocean Tides card base as well as some SU Real Red to accent the designer paper. Merry Christmas from Stylish Sentiments: Holiday is stamped in Pure Poppy. 

You can see below my jagged cut using an exact for the slit (not pretty) but it works. 

Using Pure Poppy ink I stamped a sentiment from Stylish Sentiments: Holiday in the middle of the folds. 

Well, there you have it, and now I can say I tried. : )

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: Ocean Tides and SU Real Red

Ink: Pure Poppy

Stamps: Stylish Sentiments: Holiday

Dies: Limitless Layers: 2-1/4" Ovals

Other: MME Winter Wonderland paper pad, corner rounder and exacto

PTI MIM #191: Glittered Frames

Thank goodness for PTI Make It Monday challenges because it motivates me to create a card when time permits. It's not helping me mass produce my Christmas cards, but I couldn't resist busting out my glitter after watching Dawn's video to make glittered frames. It was fun but now I know why I seldom "glitterize" my cards. Love the look but it's all over the place, especially since my only silver glitter was pretty chunky. I've had it so long I paid $2.19 for a huge jar. Would you call that hoarding? Anyway, here's my card. This was a fluke so don't expect staging all the time. : )

I used a SU Going Gray card base to make it easier for writing inside the card. That's also the color you see under the raised up Fancy Flakes snowflake. Using a VersaMark pen, I edged the snowflake and then dipped it in silver metallic embossing powder, which is also what I used for the Happy Holidays sentiment. Didn't have 1/8" Score Tape so the 1/4" made the glittered frame a little too wide, but I had to go with it. The snowflake is raised up using SU dimensionals. Finishing the card, I added a rhinestone to the center of the flake. 

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: Tropical Teal & SU Going Gray (card base)

Ink: VersaMark Pad and VersaMark Marker

Stamps: Signature Christmas

Dies: Fancy Flakes

Other: 1/4" Score Tape, SU dimensionals, Zing Silver Metallic Embossing Powder, Silver Glitter and Rhinestone (both from my stash)

PTI MIM #190: Stamping A Plaid Background

Yes, another week and another month has passed us by. It's time for another Papertrey Ink Make It Monday challenge. Ashley created an excellent video tutorial for us to follow her lead. She makes it look so easy. I've never had good luck stamping a second time or stamping off to get a lighter shade of the same ink color. Love the idea but I definitely need more practice. Here's my card:

Taking Ashley's advice I stamped on a larger piece of Stamper's Select White card stock than I actually needed for my card design. Now I have another piece the same size to create another card later. Using Basic Backgrounds: Super Stripes, I used Canyon Clay and Ripe Avocado inks for my plaid background.

Die cut the word "thanks" using Wet Paint Cuts Dies and SU Always Artichoke card stock. You might be able to see better in the photo below that I raised the plaid panel and the "thanks" using foam mounting tape. I also scored a line above and below the panel but it doesn't show in either photo. To finish my card, I stamped "for everything" in Ripe Avocado ink on the white card base.

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White and SU Always Artichoke

Ink: Ripe Avocado

Stamps: Wet Paint

Dies: Wet Paint Cuts

Other: Foam Mounting Tape and MS Scoreboard

Papertrey November Blog Hop Challenge

Here it is…better almost late than never!

Details later ~ gotta run!

PTI MIM #188: Stamping Ombre Backgrounds

Well, today is Wednesday, and I've not only watched Laura's fabulous video here for this week's Papertrey Ink Make It Monday challenge, but I've also created a card with an ombre background. My ink color choices are very limited because I recently sold all my SU inks and haven't yet added to my supply of PTI inks. I will definitely try this challenge again when I have more ink options. Since I need to pop a wedding card in the mail tomorrow, I ran to my stamp room before we lose power again. Lost it twice yesterday and wind gusts are still unstoppable here. Better hurry ~ here's my card.

My ombre background was created with a Stamper's Select White die cut from Tipped Tops dies and stamping repeatedly (overlapping somewhat) the striped flag banner from Sketched Shapes. Ink colors were stamped in this order (bottom to top): Simply Chartreuse, New Leaf, Berry Sorbet, Sweet Blush, Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, and repeated Berry Sorbet, Sweet Blush, Simply Chartreuse and New Leaf. Using Sweet Blush card stock, I die cut again from Tipped Tops and foam mounted that on my Soft Stone card base as a frame for the ombre background. "Love" from Wet Paint Dies from Berry Sorbet card stock was cut three times and glued together for added dimension. 

In the above photo, you can get a better look at the Vellum hearts and initials of the bride & groom that I popped up with foam tape and added glitter glue to make them sparkle. The Block Alphabet dies even include the Ampersand so I lucked out. Three lime satin sequins finished it off. 

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: Soft Stone, Sweet Blush, Stamper's Select White, Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, Berry Sorbet and Vellum

Ink: Simply Chartreuse, New Leaf, Berry Sorbet, Sweet Blush, Aqua Mist and Hawaiian Shores

Stamps: Sketched Shapes

Dies: Tipped Tops, Wet Paint and Block Alphabet

Other: Foam tape, SU Heart Punch, Lime Satin Sequins (stash), Foam Tape and Glitter Glue

PTI MIM #187: Partial Die Cuts for the Holidays

Melissa "wowed" us here with her fun technique of using partial die cuts for a holiday card or project for this week's Papertrey Ink Make It Monday. Of course, her results were fabulous. Had a busy week but decided I'd take a stab at this after watching Melissa's video and thinking about which die to use. So, here is my holiday card:

My card base is SU Basic Gray with a layer of PTI vellum toning it down a bit. After scoring several lines on the vellum to ground my trees, I heat embossed a sentiment from Stylish Sentiments: Holiday using VersaMark and PTI's white embossing powder. The three Aqua Mist trees were die cut from PTI's In The Meadow and decorated with garland from Birthday Style in Hawaiian Shores ink. Some silver star stickers from my stash topped each tree, and finished up with red glitter glue for ornaments.  The middle tree is adhered using SU dimensionals for added dimension. 

ETA (edited to add): adding this to the Tree-mendous Tree Challenge in the Moxie Fab World 

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: SU Basic Gray, Aqua Mist and Vellum

Ink: Hawaiian Shores and VersaMark

Stamps: Birthday Style and Stylish Sentiments: Holiday

Dies: In The Meadow

Other: SU Dimensionals and red glitter glue

PTI MIM #186: Partial Die Stamping

What can I saw other than it's late again and past my bed time. Here I am with a much-needed congratulatory card and was just sure I'd find a "congrats" die in my stash. I was determined to participate in this week's Make It Monday at PTI, because Laurie did such a great job of showing us how to stamp on paper and then die cut so only part of the shape is stamped. If you're confused, that's because I am too and it's late. Anyway, here's my card.

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: Sweet Blush, Stamper's Select White, Hawaiian Shores, Simply Chartreuse, SU Really Rust and SU Basic Gray

Ink: Hawaiian Shores, Sweet Blush and VersaMark

Stamps: Boutique Borders: Congrats and Botanical Silhouettes

Dies: Boutique Borders: Congrats and Tipped Tops

Other: Patterned Paper from Studio Calico (I think), White Crochet Thread (Joann's), SU Dimensionals and Zing! Metallic Embossing Powder

Papertrey October Blog Hop Challenge

Nichole and crew are so good to us they provided great Holiday Color Recipes to choose from for  this month's Blog Hop challenge and to help jumpstart our holiday projects. I selected this combination of non-traditional colors:

Since I'm sure there will be lots of other blog hop entries to see, let's get right to my card. It's pretty self-explanatory.

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: Soft Stone

Ink: Smokey Shadow, Blueberry Sky, Hawaiian Shores and New Leaf

Stamps: Watercolor Wonder, In The Meadow and Signature Christmas

Dies: Fancy Flakes

Other: New Leaf Bitty Dot paper and foam tape

PTI MIM #184: Gold-Dipped Die Cuts (Card #2)

Danielle made such a great video and shared a fun technique that I had to attempt this a second time for Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday challenge before the deadline. Besides, I also needed a birthday card for a sweet niece that I need to mail tomorrow. Hope she likes it as much as I do.

Starting with a card base of SU Mellow Moss, I stamped Background Basics: Super Stripes six times using VersaMark ink. Die cut a Fabulous Frame from Rustic Cream and gold embossed the birthday sentiment from Boutique Borders: Birthday. After adhering that to my card base, I added SU dimensionals to my leaves to give more dimension. My Leaf Print dies were cut from some Fall paper in my stash and tipped with gold embossing. Finished it off with a matching button laced with gold elastic cord and tied into a bow. 

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: Rustic Cream and SU Mellow Moss

Ink: VersaMark

Stamps: Boutique Borders: Birthday and Background Basics: Super Stripes

Dies: Leaf Prints and Fabulous Frames

Other: Zing! Metallic Gold Embossing Powder, patterned from (from stash), SU gold elastic cord, and SU Dimensionals 

PTI MIM #184: Gold-Dipped Die Cuts

Loved Danielle's video showing how fun it is to "dip" die cuts into gold embossing powder, or any color for that matter. It's this week's Papertrey Ink Make It Monday, and wouldn't you know I waited until the last day again. Because it was such a beautiful day in Western Washington and hit a record high of 72 degrees, I just couldn't resist yard work. Hence, I didn't make it to my card room until late tonight. Progress was made, however, and I love the results. See my first card below, and my second one will be in another post.

Sometimes the embossing looks green on the tips of the snowflake, but it's actually gold on Sweet Blush card stock. Once I die cut the Fancy Flakes middle-size die from my card base, I cut two more in white to make it thicker and raised up when placing it back in the die opening. The sentiment from Stylish Sentiments: Holiday was also embossed in gold. To finish it off, I added a white pearl to the center of the star, which is also three layers of card stock raised up. Yeah, one holiday card completed!

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: Sweet Blush and Stamper's Select White

Ink: VersaMark

Stamps: Stylish Sentiments: Holiday

Dies: Fancy Flakes

Other: Zing! Metallic Gold Embossing Powder and SU white pearl

PTI MIM #183: Dry Embossing Over Heat Embossing

Because I've been vacationing a week at a time the last three months, I really haven't been crafting or visiting a whole lot of blogs. However, I managed to follow Nichole's blog to keep up with the sneak peeks and now I'm back home for Release Week. So, why not rush once again to meet another deadline for the latest Make It Monday? Dawn is showing us the technique of dry embossing over heat embossing. (By the way, if you've never been to Mackinac Island, I highly recommend it.) Without further delay, here's my card.

It's difficult to see here but I used another idea of Dawn's on this card. The top piece of Rustic Cream card stock stamped & embossed using Leaf Prints was dry embossed using PTI's Woodgrain Impression Plate before adhering with SU dimensionals. Before adhering to the Rustic Cream piece with the stamped sentiment, I glued on a thin strip of SU Baroque Burgundy card stock. Think this fits the bill for a masculine birthday card? I do…and that's all that really matters, right. 

Edited to add: Since the theme at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is O, I'm including this card because of the orange leaves. 

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: Rustic Cream, SU Always Artichoke and SU Baroque Burgundy

Ink: SU Always Artichoke, SU Baroque Burgundy and SU Pumpkin Pie

Stamps: Stylish Sentiments: Birthday and Leaf Prints

Other: Woodgrain Impression Plate, SU Dimensionals and Clear Embossing Powder (Joann's)

PTI MIM #180: Paper Weaving

Since I've missed out on participating in the last couple of Make It Monday challenges, I thought I'd give this one a try.  Ashley's detailed video showed us ways to incorporate paper weaving into cards and scrapbook pages. She made it look so easy. I'm pleased with my results, but it took me all night. Let me show you my take.

I started this birthday card with a 4.25x5.5" piece of white card stock as a base for adhering my .25" vertical strips of white. Repeating my staggered pattern for all horizontal three rows, I used SU Elegant Eggplant, PTI Harvest Gold and SU Basic Gray card stocks. Once they were all in place I glued the ends to keep them from shifting. A circular design of white crochet thread is adhered under my Happy Birthday sentiment stamped on PTI Vellum in PTI's Smokey Shadow ink and traced with a Stardust Glitter Pen. For added dimension, I die cut the Wet Paint "happy" from PTI's Soft Stone card stock and popped it up using SU dimensionals. Three silver sequins add a touch of bling and lead your eyes to my sentiment. This was adhered to a white card base. 

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: GP White, Harvest Gold, SU Elegant Eggplant and SU Basic Gray

Ink: Smokey Shadow

Stamps: Keep It Simple: Birthday

Dies: Wet Paint

Other: SU Dimensionals, Silver Sequins and white crochet thread (from Joann's)

PTI MIM #178: Back to School Easel Card

Even though I've created a few cards as I needed them, I never did post them on my blog. Surprised myself that my last post was the end of May. Where did the Summer go? We had such a beautiful one here in Western Washington I just couldn't bring myself to stay inside and stamp. Thought this video creating an easel card by Erin Lincoln was a fun one so squeezed it in between doing laundry and chatting with a friend tonight. It's late here so I'll post my card now and the details another day.

PTI MIM #165: Artsy Watercolor Backgrounds

Had every intention of posting this earlier until a dear friend called to chat. I'm not really very "artsy" but wanted to try Betsy Veldman's watercolor technique as shown in this week's Make It Monday for Papertrey Ink.

Using PTI's Mum's The Word stamp set on Stamper's Select White cardstock, I inked up three different size mums with Harvest Gold, Tempting Turquoise and Pink Passion. With water and brush in hand, I drew out the inks to mimic Betsy's technique. When dried, that layer was cut in three pieces, adhered with SU dimensionals to "life" them up on the New Leaf cardstock and placed on a white card base. To finish it off, I added a little bling with coordinating sequins, stamped the sentiment from Stylish Sentiments: Birthday using New Leaf ink, and rounded two corners.

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White and New Leaf

Ink: New Leaf, Harvest Gold, SU Tempting Turquoise and SU Pink Passion

Stamps: Stylish Sentiments: Birthday and Mum's The Word

Dies: None

Other: Sequins (won from Jennifer McGuire) and Corner Chomper

Papertrey May Blog Hop Challenge

This month's challenge here is to play around with the popular color combination of Aqua and Melon as shown from this gorgeous inspiration:

photo credits- roses:::maile's ikat cards:::bowls:::floral print:::tulips

Even though I've had several days to think about these colors, I still had no idea what I was going to design until I managed to actual create today. Here's what I came up with for my niece's birthday!

My white card base was covered with a layer of SU Soft Sky DSP before adding the Hexagon Cover Plate in SU Groovy Guava. I added a few hexagons to add some dimension. "Happy" was die cut from glittered paper, and "birthday" was stamped in VersaMark and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I either need to get VersaMark reinker or new embossing powder because I was disappointed with the results. 

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Aqua Mist and SU Groovy Guava

Ink: VersaMark

Stamps: Stylish Sentiments: Birthday

Dies: Pretty Peonies, Bountiful Banners, Mat Stack #4 and Hexagon Cover Plate

Other: Sizzix Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, SU Soft Sky DSP, Melon Glittered Paper (Joann's), Clear Embossing Powder (Joann's), White Crochet Thread (Michael's) and SU Dimensionals

PTI MIM #164: Cluster Stamped Sentiments

Oh my goodness, I knew it had been a while since I was able to stamp, but didn't realize it has been over a month. No wonder I was going through withdrawals. Since I need graduation cards, birthday cards and congratulatory cards, I thought I'd give this week's Make It Monday a try. Well, Heather made it look so easy. The first three went in the trash last night because I just wasn't pleased with my cluster of hats and stars, and I kept smearing the ink.  So earlier today I attempted that same card again because I liked the idea I had in my head…just not so much on paper. I am satisfied with this one for a High School grad whose school colors are red and blue.

My next card is for a high school senior who achieved her personal bests in discus and shot put and hopefully qualifies for WA State Field and Track. Her goal is to participate in Junior Nationals again so I'm confident she will. 

My third and final card is a birthday card for my SIL, which I need to mail tomorrow. 

I apologize for not commenting regularly on blog posts, and hope to improve on that task soon. Thanks for reading this post, and I appreciate every comment. 

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Graduation Card

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, SU Brilliant Blue and SU Real Red

Ink: SU Real Red and VersaMark

Stamps: Boutique Borders: Congrats, For The Graduate and 2012 Birthday Tags (star)

Dies: Fabulous Frames (edge of frame only)

Other: Zing Metallic Blue Embossing Powder and SU Dimensionals

Congrats Card

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Berry Sorbet and Winter Wisteria

Ink: Berry Sorbet, Harvest Gold, Winter Wisteria and VersaMark

Stamps: Boutique Borders: Congrats and Flower Fusion #4

Dies: Tipped Tops

Other: White Embossing Powder, white crochet thread (Joann's), Summer Sun Sequins (Jennifer McGuire)

Yay! It's Your Birthday

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Harvest Gold and Winter Wisteria

Ink: Berry Sorbet, Harvest Gold, Winter Wisteria, Hawaiian Shores, Memento Tuxedo Black and VersaMark

Stamps: Stylish Sentiments: Birthday and 2012 Birthday Tags (star)

Dies: Fabulous Frames and Tipped Tops (star)

Other: White Embossing Powder and Enamel Dot (Joann's)

PTI MIM #159: No-Sew Quilted Cards

Sure glad there is a weekly Make It Monday here at PaperTrey Ink so I force myself to squeeze in some time in my stamping room. And yes, once again it is Sunday night, and I'm racing to beat the deadline for the challenge by Dawn McVey. We had such a beautiful weekend here in Western Washington that I felt compelled to do some yard work but would have preferred stamping. No doubt my body will remind me that I put it through torture the past two days. Without further adieu, here's my take on the challenge.

After cutting 1.5" squares of four different patterns, I followed Dawn's lead and left some white space when adhering them to the card base. Then I embossed the card with the Hexagon Cover Plate and finished it off heat embossing silver powder for my sentiment on vellum. The tiny star stickers cover up the vellum tape runner & glossy accents I used for adhering the vellum. 

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: Stamper's Select, Vellum

Ink: VersaMark

Stamps: Boutique Borders: Thanks

Dies: Hexagon Cover Plate

Other: Martha Stewart Paper Pack, Zing Silver Embossing Powder, Vellum tape runner, Glossy Accents, Silver Star stickers (stash)

PTI MIM #158: Stamping With Watercolor Mediums

Back from a much-needed vacation in sunny California and dealing with lots of personal matters following the death of my BIL, I was eager to get back in my stamping room. After watching Heather perform her magic using Gelatos and water brushing or misting her stamp, I decided I'd attempt this technique. Guess I'm so out of practice because my first one went in the trash. I'm still not thrilled with the second one, but I'm entering it anyway in this week's Papertrey Ink Make It Monday. Should have pulled out my watercolors because my pastel SU Watercolor Wonder Crayons didn't show up very well, but here it is anyway.

Below is a close-up of my watercolor experience using the misting technique. 

Also entering in this Wednesday's Simon Says Stamp challenge, because Simon Says Happy Birthday. 

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: White, SU Certainly Celery and Lavender Lace

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and SU Watercolor Wonder Crayons (pastels)

Stamps: Pretty Peonies and Big Birthday Wishes

Dies: Pretty Peonies and Linen/Canvas Impression Plate

Other: We R Corner Chomper, White Crochet Thread (Joann's) and SU Dimensionals

Papertrey March Blog Hop Challenge

High gloss is definitely a trend, especially in cardmaking. Here is this month's Blog Hop Challenge for Papertrey Ink, which was to incorporate anything glossy.

For my card, I opted to use white embossing for my sentiment and glossy accents on my "flying" butterflies. This birthday card really shines. Check it out below:

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: Berry Sorbet, Hawaiian Shores & Stamper's Select White

Ink: VersaMark, Spring Rain, Harvest Gold, Berry Sorbet, Winter Wisteria, Aqua Mist and Sweet Blush

Stamps: Half and Half and Beautiful Butterflies

Dies: Half and Half

Other: White Embossing Powder, Glossy Accents, Hawaiian Shores button,Twinery Twine and 

SU Dimensionals

PTI MIM #155: Create Confetti with Papertrey Ink Dies

The past several weeks my time was consumed assisting my DH with moving his brother to an adult family home as his COPD continued to worsen. We were so thankful he agreed to this transition because just two weeks later our Lord was calling his name. After 10 days of company and the burial four days ago, our last guests left Saturday. It was a beautiful celebration and fabulous tribute in my BIL's honor. Needless to say, we are looking forward to our vacation in another week.

It felt so good to get back in my stamping room today for some quiet time. After watching Danielle's Papertrey Ink Make It Monday video here, I decided to give it a try. Some of the hearts are popped up for added dimension. The strip of patterned paper just above my rounded corners helps ground the sentiment.

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: Ocean Tides, Hawaiian Shores, Harvest Gold & SU Rose Red

Ink: SU Basic Gray

Stamps: Stylish Sentiments: Birthday

Dies: Bubble Talk

Other: Corner Chomper, SU Dimensionals and patterned paper from DCWV's The Kidlet Stack