Happy Birthday Butterfly

Just finishing in time for the approaching deadline of Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Splash It On. Anyway one can incorporate water into a project qualifies for this challenge. I did some brown and white watercolored splatters on my yellow card base. I think this one qualifies for a masculine birthday card, which can be a bit more difficult than the usual floral creations. The brown rectangle, popped up using foam tape, is woodgrain embossed with an oval cut out of the center. A vellum butterfly adorns the corner of the frame, to which I added four yellow Nuvo drops to hide my foam tape. Here's my card.

Thanks for stopping by, and I really do appreciate your comments. 

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: Harvest Gold, Dark Chocolate and Vellum

Ink: Dark Chocolate

Stamps: Sketched Shapes

Dies: Woodgrain Impression Plate and Oval Nestabilities

Other: Paintbrush, Watercolors, Foam Tape and Nuvo Crystal Drops

PTI Create Along With Us Challenge: August 2016

What a fabulous August release at Papertrey Ink! You can see all the details and inspiration on Nichole's blog. This month we are challenged to select one of the design team member's card or project as our inspiration. Oh, how does one decide when there are so many awesome ones? I took the liberty to rotate one of Danielle's Thanksgiving Inspiration cards and turn it into a sympathy card. Here's her beauty below!

This is what I came up with for my sympathy card based on Danielle's inspiration. 

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Pure Poppy and Lovely Lady

Ink: Smokey Shadow and VersaMark

Stamps: Boutique Borders: Congrats

Dies: Cover Plate: Pretty Frame

Other: Colorbok Carnival Paper Pad, Ink Blending Tool, Paintbrush, Black Watercolor, White Embossing Powder and Black Rhinestones

Papertrey Ink's 8th Anniversary Blue Ombre (Day 8)

Thursday's challenge for PTI's 8th Anniversary on Nichole's blog was to create a new project that features a blue ombre effect using all our favorite shades of this beautiful color. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Well, unfortunately I sold off all my SU ink pads and the bulk of my card stock preparing to replace them with my PTI Anniversary order so this was a bit of a struggle for me. Spring Rain ink and card stock wouldn't quite meet the criteria for ombre. Dug out three Pentel Color Pens, scribbled them on an old CD case, spritzed with water and "smooshed" a piece of watercolor paper in it to get various shades of blue. Hopefully, this qualifies.

I covered my white card base with a piece of SU Designer Paper before adhering my watercolored design. 

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White and SU Designer Paper (stash)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Stamps: Boutique Borders: Congrats and Keep It Simple: Get Well

Dies: None

Other: Watercolor Paper, Pentel Color Pens, Sequins (stash) and SU Dimensionals

PTI MIM #198: Three-Panel Cards

It's not unusual for me to be posting my Make It Monday card at the last minute, but it's not very often I enter two challenges in one day (the other being Papertrey's January Blog Hop). Ashley shared her talents with us in a great video explaining how to create three-panel cards from half a sheet of 8-1/2"x11" card stock. Some of you know I've been struggling with a card design for our dear friend's grandson who achieved the level of Eagle Scout. We will be attending his Court of Honor this Saturday so I needed a special card for him, and this challenge fit the bill. Here's the front of my three-panel card:

The white with blue stars background paper I printed from my computer because I sold all my SU inks and don't own any blue ink…yet. Block alphabet dies were used to personalize this for Drake. This top portion was die cut using Edgers #3. The red stripes were stamped using Background Basics: Super Stripes after using my computer to print the words "Eagle Scout" on the white card base. A blue star from Fancy Flakes Dies was adhered to cover up a bit of red that bled onto my white stripe. (I know I should have kept that a secret.) 

(and here's the inside)

"Dreams Believed and Dreams Achieved" from For The Graduate were heat embossed using white embossing powder. It closes with velcro (that's the circle you see above the word "dreams"), but it's so strong I'm not sure I like that. The "Congratulations You Did It!" middle section is a perfect place to write a personal message. A pocket attached to the bottom section will hold a gift card, cash or personal check. This was adhered with Scor-Tape. 

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, SU Real Red & SU Night of Navy

Ink: Pure Poppy & VersaMark

Stamps: Background Basics: Super Stripes, Boutique Borders: Congrats, and For The Graduate

Dies: Block Alphabet, Edger Dies #3 and Fancy Flakes (star only)

Other: Printer (white w/blue star paper) and Eagle Scout (on front of card), White Embossing Powder, Velcro Circles (stash) and Scor-Tape

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

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's 7th Anniversary ~ Day 9 (Building Blocks)

Anyone else wearing down like I am? Between all these fun challenges and watching the Olympics (plus the everyday mundane chores), I am running out of steam. This blog hasn't seen so many posts on a regular basis. How does the Design Team do it so frequently?

Speaking of the Design Team, let's get started with today's challenge here. Each team member has a basic list of six "building block" options that are numbered. Our instructions were to roll a die nine times to see which item numbers we were to use in creating a card. If we didn't have a certain item, we could roll again. I did that for Melissa's fiber selection because I don't have any embroidery floss. Since my PTI inks and cardstocks are limited, I had to make substitutions or I'd still be rolling again and again. Let me just say that I wasn't feeling too lucky when I rolled this combination: 1) Pure Poppy, 4) Sweet Blush, 5) Spring Moss, 3) Stamper's Select White, 6) Dawn's Sketch, 6) Congratulations, 4) Inlaid Diecuts, 6) Felt and 2) Baker's Twine.

A Stamper's Select White card base was covered with a layer of SU Certainly Celery, from which I die cut Boutique Borders: Congrats and inlaid it over a piece of pink & white baker's twine tied in a bow. The border was stamped using VersaMark and "Congrats" using SU Real Red. Tipped Tops Dies were used to cut two-layered stars from SU Pretty in Pink card stock and white glittered felt. Here's my card:

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, SU Certainly Celery and SU Pretty in Pink

Ink: VersaMark and SU Real Red

Stamps: Boutique Borders: Congrats

Dies: Boutique Borders: Congrats and Tipped Tops

Other: White glittered felt (Joann's), Twinery Twine and foam mounting tape 

PTI's 7th Anniversary ~ Day 3 (Timer Challenge)

Our challenge today in celebration of Papertrey Ink's 7th Anniversary is to gather 7 supplies (including ink, paper and stamps) in 7 minutes and create a quick card in 17 minutes or less. WOW, that is moving quickly for this gal who typically creates without a sketch, design or colors in mind. After making seven cards late last night, it was a push to get crafting again today so three is my limit. I'm multitasking now as I type this while watching the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics ~ Go USA!

Have seen several cards in blogland using paint chips and most recently, my online friend Joyce posted one on her blog. I've been saving several different color schemes for quite sometime so decided to use one tonight thinking it would be a time-saver.

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

1. Stamper's Select White card stock
2. Paint chip from Home Depot
3. Boutique Borders: Congrats stamp set
4. Boutique Borders: Birthday stamp set
5. Linen/Canvas Impression Plate
6. SU Rose Red ink
7. Rhinestones - 3 (from my stash)

 Finished in 14 minutes, 58 seconds.


Thought I'd make another birthday card because February is a birthday-filled month for me with seven relatives and friends celebrating from the 9th through the 28th (all females but one). I so wanted to put sequins or buttons down the front to make it look like a dress but had to stick to my goal of 7 items.

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

1. Raspberry Fizz card stock
2. Basic Black card stock (Joann's)
3. Stamper's Select White card stock
4. Pretty Peonies die
5. Wonderful Words: Birthday die
6. White doily (stash)
7. Black/white Twinery Twine

Finished in 12 minutes, 4 seconds. 

Since I ran out of steam last night, Erin's printable was the only one I didn't get to complete. Once all the others were used, I could see that my Mat Stack #4 die would work perfectly to capture the entire print. Because I don't have the larger mat stacks for layering, I created by own by die-cutting two from black card stock and cutting one in half vertically and the other horizontally. This was time-consuming as was the fussy cutting of the two little hearts I added to fill the corner and give it some more dimension.

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

1. Erin Lincoln's printable
2. Basic Black card stock (Joann's)
3. SU Real Red card stock
4. White card stock (Georgia Pacific) ~ feeds just fine through my printer
5. Mat Stack #4
6. Boutique Borders: Valentine
7. SU Real Red ink

Finished with 4 seconds to spare: 16 minutes, 56 seconds

PTI MIM #147: Multi-layer Images from A Single Stamp

Betsy Veldman shared her magic in this video of how to make tags or focal images by stamping multiple layers in different ink colors all from a single stamp. It might have taken me all day with several interruptions to create my take on her technique, but after all it's only Friday. Good thing I started early for this week's Papertrey Ink Make It Monday challenge. My weekend is going to be a busy one so let's get started.

Besides 2012 Birthday Tags, the only other stamp set I came across that would work for this challenge is For The Graduate and Mat Stack #1. Since I already know a special young man who will be graduating in June, I worked this around his school colors.

It's hard to see here but first I die-cut the Mat Stack #1 and then stamped the image from For The Graduate in SU Brilliant Blue ink. My second image stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink was punched with a 1-3/4" circle punch. I stamped the cap and stars again in black and fussy cut them. The black cap and tassel, raised up using SU dimensionals, were finished off with Glossy Accents, and the three stars were heat embossed using silver embossing powder. Here's the finished card:

The Mat Stack #1 die cut was adhered with SU dimensionals over the brilliant blue Half and Half die cut. My white card base is topped off with black and another white layer that was impressed using the Linen/Canvas Plate. Once again using Memento Tuxedo Black ink, I stamped the sentiment from Boutique Borders: Congrats. Studio Calico wooden veneer stars turned to silver using a Zig Painty pen, which I placed on the Half and Half die cut. Unfortunately, my photos don't do it justice, but I'm pleased with the results so I guess that's all that really matters. Thanks for looking!

Edited to Add: Also entering this in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, which is BLUES.

Supplies: (all PTI unless noted)

Cardstock: White, Black and SU Brilliant Blue

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Brilliant Blue and VersaMark

Stamps: For The Graduate and Boutique Borders: Congrats

Dies: Mat Stack #1 and Half & Half

Other: SU Silver Embossing Powder, Studio Calico Wood Veneer Stars, Zig Painty Silver Metallic Pen, Glue Dots, Tombo Mono-Multi Glue, Linen/Canvas Impression Plate, Glossy Accents and SU Dimensionals, SU 1-3/4" Circle Punch