Papertrey's CMWC #44

So, is it clean and simple or not?!? The challenge this week on the Papertrey Forum was to make a CAS card, all one layer with one embellishment. I started out thinking duck and sentiment. The sentiment was great but the duck was lonely, so then I thought maybe 3 ducks, but the background was bare so I masked the ducks and the sentiment and added the background, but then I messed up one of the squares so I had to add the ribbon, then it was lop-sided so I added another knot on the other side, and VOILA! Not so CAS, silly! Hey! It is one layer and one embellishment!

lol lol, maybe I will go back to square one and remake the lonely duck!

Bitty Baby Blessings gave us the sentiment and ducks, of course. The ovals are from Borders and Corners Ovals, and the background square is from Guidelines, but the little polka dotty thing is a flower center from Beautiful Blooms. Inks were Beaux Arts blue, Ocean Tides and Seascape, along with Versafine Onyx Black. The ducks are colored with Prisma marker Deco Yellow, but the beaks are SU's Pumpkin Pie marker.

CPS 104

Have you ever thought you needed to do something, but kept putting it off? Of course you have! Then there is a nudge of some kind and it's like this ethereal moment where you realize you have to do it? lol, well that was me this week! I have been thinking I should send Nichole Heady some kind of note about how splendid the PapertreyInk anniversary festivities were for me, and how much I appreciate all of the inspiring work she does. But well, you know... it kept falling to the bottom of the to do pile. Then earlier this week there was the CPS challenge... and then there were all of the PTI DT sending Nichole 'Thanks for Your Inspiration' cards... and...ahem... I guess this is the right moment, lol!

Card base is Spring Moss. The DP is Basic Grey Porcelain. I stamped the flourish from With Sympathy in Spring Moss on Stampers Select, then did the flowers in Palette's Belle Rose. I inked up some Stampers Select with Belle Rose, then punched out the Martha Stewart butterfly and bunny. The butterflies also have some Fruit Punch Stickles on them just for some glitter factor. Ribbon is Spring Moss and Berry Sorbet twill. Sentiments come from Mixed Messages and Out On A Limb Sentiments, they are stamped in Versafine Onyx Black. Little brads from Making Memories. Nichole's name in Simple Alphabet, of course!

It's not very often I send a card like this- indeed, maybe this will be the first time I have. Nichole has just been so inspiring to me (as have all of the DT); in the past 3 weeks I have been the most creative I have ever been, I think.

Thanks, Nichole, I appreciate that!

February Blog Hop!

Spring is coming...at Papertrey, anyway! For the rest of us, I am beginning to lose hope! I have three posts tonight- my second card is last, and you will see it is not so spring-y, lol!!

No stamps...is that right?? Yes, that's right! I wanted to be able to use a punch and a stamped image together and have the same color, so I will show you how I did that. This card came from the leftovers of my inked paper and punch experiment- and it actually came out in better Spring colors than my original card!

Here's a closeup of the bunnies so you can see how the coloring is. The dotted papers are the Bitty Dots, of course. The bunny is a Martha Stewart punch. Background paper is from Everyday Blessing 6 x 6 pad. Card is Spring Moss, and the ribbon is Spring Moss twill. Border punch is from Fiskars. Colors are Spring Rain, Spring Moss, Sweet Blush, Lemon Tart, Aqua Mist and Lavender Moon.

Be sure and see the next two posts!!

February Blog Hop Bunnies!

Just take a piece off cardstock, and rub it onto the ink pad. Rub as much or as little as you want. With Palette pads, and much pressing, the color will come through to the other side. Depending on the final result you are trying to achieve, this may be a good thing!

It should only take a minute to dry, then you can punch out your little bunny. The blue guy on the left is the reverse of a heavy Spring Rain rub. See how the bunny on the right is going to match the stamped PTI bunny!

The punched bunnies are from a Martha Stewart punch. I used liquid Tombow and the Quickie pen to get into the little areas with glue. Hope you like my little bunnies!!

Blog Hop continued...

This is actually the first card I made for tonight, but it didn't feel spring-y enough, lol! I must say I used so many of the new Melon Berry buttons the level in the jar went down, and that made me sad, lol!

I ended up not using the first bunny I made with the inked paper, but I sat him up against the card so you can see how I needed him to be inked as I was designing the card- now the two bunnies are a perfect match in color!! Sentiment is from Little Lady.

Somebunny Loves You!

Have I said this before? I have ambivalence about mice. I absolutely adore little animal images like Brambly Hedge and Holly Pond Hill. Little houses inside of trees with with little tea pots and little candlesticks... well, I just love that! I hate mice. They creep me out. When they get in the house I want them out. But, I don't want them dead! My 'religion', it you will, says they have every right to be in the world, and they are just trying to exist like me. No better no worse than I am. See the dilemma? So, I'm just not sure about the House Mouse stamps with the mice with long tails and well, they are mice! But they are cute! Should I feel ok or not ok?

Ahhh, but the Hoppers, now that is another story! A few weeks ago House Mouse had free shipping, so I took advantage!

Isn't this cute? The image would work for Valentines or Baby cards- this one is a baby card. The paper is an older SU pack- Petals and Paisleys. I colored the image with various watercolor pencils, but used SU's Old Olive watercolor crayon under the image- to match the paper. Paper, brad, ribbon all SU.

Damask 1

Was just playing around with new Papertrey sets today. didn't really mean to make anything, was just stamping on paper... and the new EK success edge punch was first, then the stamp inked up tons went down, and a black strip fit under the punched edge beautifully. I grabbed for ribbon and said- no, wait... be done!

I can see that a sentiment would fit nicely on the right just above the punched edge, so I think I will pop it into my card box just like it is!

Little One

Ah... I go to work tonight, and this is #10 baby card for the week! I love it when I really get them all done! Tonight I will also bill for the quarter, which is another great feeling, lol!

Vintage Cream cs by Papertrey. Their Just Hatched set for the sentiment, Polka Dot Basics for the background. The welcome part of the sentiment is from savvystamps. Spring Moss ink for the dots, Versafine Onyx Black for the sentiment, SU's Craft Whisper White for the tag surround. Straight and scalloped ovals for the tag. Papertrey's Spring Moss double stitched ribbon across the card, one of the only ribbons I trust to not fray when you don't do a wrap-around. SU's 1/4 inch grosgrain in Pretty in Pink for the larger bow, put through two little slots done with a punch. The bow on the giraffe is on e of the 50 cent Joannes really narrow satin ribbons.

The little guy? He's been kicking around on my table for some time- I think he came from a Scrapbook kit from Michael's.

Buttons!

Buttons!

This morning, my DH thought he'd go for a short little run~ since he had to be back in time for Grandson's Birthday party. Now, I was expecting a Papertrey package, and he knew that. If the slip is in the mailbox, we have to wait until the next day to get the package (or chase the car down that is delivering the mail). On Saturday, the PO is open for about an hour and a half. I expected the slip to be in the box on Monday, he'd get it for me on Tuesday, then I'd have it to play with on Tuesday afternoon when I got up from working a string of night shifts.

So, off he goes this morning, and comes back an hour and a half and 6 miles later... with my box! He found the slip in the box dated Friday (we never went to the mailbox on Friday!), hightailed it running to the PO, made it in time, then ran home carrying the box in his hands!

These are the sweetest buttons brought to me by the sweetest man you have ever met.

PS: They are in the 'small' Making Memories jars. I saw them at Michaels this afternoon, $9.99 for 6 jars. Kinda pricey, but I'm getting another set or two to stash so I will have plenty as the buttons come!

Spring colors!

This is for Papertrey's Casual Midweek Challenge # 43- use Spring Rain, Spring Moss, Lemon Tart and Sweet Blush. The 2 patterned papers I used are from the Men of Life 8 x 8 pad. Ink is Versafine Onyx Black. The image is from Heather's Stamping Haven, the wood block also says The Stamp Barn on it. I colored the bird with Copics B 21 & 91. The image was cut out with a rectangle Nestability, then sponged with Spring Rain all over with the the Nestability still in place.

Even though it snowed here yesterday, I got a bit of spring in my stamp room!!

For Rick

It's no secret that my favorite stamp company is PapertreyInk, and that my faorite forum is Papertrey's as well. You've never interacted with a funner, nicer bunch of stampers! Lately, the gallery has been hissy. This weekend Rick is moving the gallery to a new server, or taking wrenches and hammers to the old server, or something like that.

May The Force Be With You.

Well, really, this is for Kaleb's 8th birthday, the party is in an hour. I printed the image from a Google search, edged it in silver, and added some 'crystals', as Kaleb says.

Snow, again

Claire (waltzingmouse) has such beautiful pictures of Ireland on her blog (see her link on the left-hand sidebar). I just wanted to show you some of the beauty I live amongst. Trees. Snow. Trees. Snow. Trees, and oh! Snow!

It snowed again last night and this morning. That's my DD's house, seen through my LR window.

Tomorrow is the 21st, which means we will officially be 2/3rds of the way through winter. Of course, it can snow here until all through Spring, and we can't really relax until June 1.

Sigh

Not quite Spring flowers

Just thought I'd show you how bad something can start out~ I was working on PTI's CMWC # 42- see the sketch here but for whatever reason, all I could see was boobs. Plus, for whatever reason, lol, I had papers and background that were awful together. But didn't the background look good? It's done using Background Basics: Stars. It was good enough to try again! Here's what I finally came up with~

Not too shabby, eh? When else do you use those gigantic flowers? I bet I've had them since I began scrap booking, maybe 10 years ago? Base card is Summer Sunrise, as is the twill ribbon. Used Ripe Avocado to stamp the background and the sentiment. Sentiment came from Floral Frenzy. It's stamped on a bitty Cuttlebug tag. The tag is edged with Paris Lights and Summer sunrise. Ripe Avocado Double Stitched ribbon up the side. All supplies are Papertrey.

Where are the circles you say? Well, guess you just have to use your imagination!

Afternoon Tea

It's funny how adding glitter over ink changes the way a color photographs.
Rest assured, chickadees, that the frame around the carriage is not bothersome to the eyes as it is in the photo. When I tried to alter the color on my editing program, it altered all of the rose pinks, too. Sigh

The carriage is an Outlines stamp. Outlines stamps are supposed to be layered and done in different colors of paper. I just got lazy here, lol. The paper is SU's Afternoon Tea; I believe from a 2007 mini. I used Prisma markers and SU markers to color with- since I used no blender it didn't matter that I mixed markers. The carriage is stamped in Versafine Onyx Black on Papertrey's Stampers Select white, dried over a couple of days before I colored it. I think the ribbons are from some Heidi Swap cards of ribbons I got at a show for $1.00. The velvet matches really well to the eyeballs, but seemingly not so well to the camera lens.

Clear Stickles around the frame, and some rose pink 'distressed' stickles on the dots of the carriage hood. Little heart brad on the 'bow', little burnished gray flower brads on the wheels.

Ever Have a Failure...

...become something ok? This card is just ok; it certainly counts as 1 of the 10 needed this week. but, I tried all day to make the Papertrey Casual Midweek Challenge #42. See the challenge here . Instead, this finally came to be on the table. I decided to just let it happen, and will try for the CMWC tomorrow.

First, I cut the card out using the Sizzix scallop card die and SU's 12 x 12 whisper white cs. I used Papertrey's Bitty Baby Blessings and Just Hatched stamps. The papers are all Papertrey as well- Bitty Baby Blessings 12 x 12, plus Lemon Tart and Spring Moss. Ribbon is Spring Moss double stitched. The little 'welcome' is savvystamps, I used SU's Old Olive marker to stamp it. The white is SU's Whisper White. Remind me to buy Papertrey;'s white on my next order, ok? I had to try three times to get the SU craft to stamp correctly; I want to try Papertrey's version!

The wheensy piece of purple ribbon stuck in the knot is a piece of SU's 1/4 inch grosgrain. 1/4 inch is such a nice size, and they have so many colors~ it's a good thing!

Losing My mind!

I am considered an expert in some things. I can read medical and nursing journals and remember who said what when. I have written and published journal articles that get quoted in other peoples articles. I have gone places and done things... and can remember them. Hold that thought.

One of my New Year's resolutions was -is- to keep my computers in good working order; to delete files when I am done with them, do updates, and, you know, do the compressions and defragment when my computers cry at me to do so.

In cleaning up my documents today I came across this photo. I have no memory of making this card, nor of the stamp that I used. I wondered if maybe my DD had done it? I had to go search, and sure enough, there is the stamp: Lockhart Stamp Co. The sentiment is from SU. It looks to me that the yellow is PTI's Lemon Tart Twill. I'm guessing that the paper and double stitched ribbon is from SU. How did I color it? No clue.

The sad thing is that the photo is dated November 20. 3 months ago. That's it, I'm losing my mind!

Out of my Zone!

My comfort zone, that is! I will say that I love one color plus white- almost any color can live up to this high expectation of flying alone. It's also true: I'm loving The Fizz! Not, not, not, my usual!

This is last weeks challenge on Papertrey, #41. This is a big accomplishment for me, since I have now completed all of the challenges issued to date, and have commented on all the other cards! I know I love comments, and I am sure anyone who posts a card does too!

I used Floral Frenzy (Papertrey, of course!) with Raspberry Fizz ink on Stamper's Select cs. The stems are stamped in Ripe Avocado. Birthday wishes provided me with a sentiment that could be birthday, but is generic enough it could work for just a 'hello' card. Background paper is from the Raspberry Fizz 8 x 8 pad. The little butterflies are from K & Co and EK Success. I love the look of the butterflies, and am going to try and make some by stamping on acetate then using art glitter and glue. Brads are from Making Memories (I think).

A Wednesday Valentine

Are you tired of my Valentines yet? Valentines is this coming Saturday of course, so I have to be done by then!

The background of this card was made with alcohol inks- this time I used Copic refills- on felt on a wooden block. I also put a gold Pilot pen tip on the felt and banged it a little, to get some of the ink out of the pen and onto the felt. Then I just dabbed over and over on the Chromekote paper. The hearts were punched from the same piece, but from a section where the color got much darker. The hearts were edged in gold, as was the main piece. The card base is SU's Rose Red, and the pink layer is Pixie Pink. the sentiment is from Papertrey's Heart Prints Sentiments, the ribbon is one of SU's retired wide organdy. by the way, I am pretty sure I saw a new wide organdy in the Spring SU catalog.

This post is coming to you on Wednesday, but I am actually away- at the Trap Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont. I have no idea if I will have computer access at the Lodge. If I don't, it will be a while before comments appear.

Speaking of comments- I love them! I wish you left more!!

Tuesday's Valentine

I wish I had some more of this black velvet paper! what you see is what I had left. OTOH, don't you just love the feeling of using up a last scrap? Makes you want to go out and buy 2 more, right??

This card was created with a Dreamweaver brass stencil and red gooey paste that is sold to use with the stencils. This paste is bright red, and dries a bit shiny. Good stuff! I am wondering if everyone knows how to do this, or if you would like a tutorial? Let me know!

Same black and cream Japanese paper as I used earlier this week. I only have one 8.5 x 11 sheet, and it is lasting forever! The little silver Love charm is from Michael's wedding section, it may have been by Wilton. I think there were 20 or 25 in the package for maybe $1.99. This one is glued on with Tombow Multi. I edged with a silver Pilot pen, and the red organdy is from SU~ sadly, retired. That wide organdy was a million yards on a roll for notalotta money.

Ta Ta for now!

We're all friends...

Nichole's challenge today on the first day of the official Papertrey release countdown~ here~ is to create a card to send to a friend. When I think about friends who I would send cards to, I think about the friends I talk to everyday on the Papertrey forum. I've been meaning to mail off a RAK or two, and thought this was a great opportunity to make a sunny, bright, 'hello!' kind of card.

And here it is! I used Pond Life, women of Life, and Pond Life sentiments. That dark green strip is the back cover of the Polka Dot 8 x 8 pad. There is also Lemon Tart and Aqua Mist in there, as well as a piece from the Everyday Blessings 6 x 6 pad. buttons are various and sundry, but soon, very soon, there will be plenty of matching PTI buttons! Swoon!

I will mail it off to a Papertrey friend, one who will laugh as she opens the envelope, smirk a little at my crooked corners and off centered squares, then place it in a spot of honor right on her stamping table.

Now that's a friend!

CPS & Papertrey

I've never played with the CPS sketches; indeed, I just figured out what CPS was fairly recently. What fun, then, to be encouraged today to use a CPS sketch to enter a PTI give-away!

I gave myself one hour to complete a card, so there are some things here I would do differently if I had more time. The lace is sticky tape from K & Co- while it looks good, it was awful to work with and I may just throw it away. Many of the little holes are not completely punched out and need work with tweezers, and the sticky isn't sticky enough, so you have to glue it with something else. This is the second time I have used it, and both times the glue I used can be seen through the little holes. Yuck.

the red is Papertrey's Pure Poppy. The paper is from their black & white 8 x 8 pad. the hearts and sentiment are from heart prints. The little hearts are punched with an EK Success punch. The white ink on the harts is SU's Whisper White craft.

Hope it inspires you a little!

Papertrey's Dot Challenge

Today I used Lemon Tart for my card base, and then layered polka dots from Polka Dot Basics 8 x 8 pad on top. I punched Spring Moss with the Fiskars Threading Water punch, then layered a printed paper from Bitty Baby Blessings 6 x 6 pack on top. On that I put a gift card envelope I made from Papertreys Stamper's Select Vellum. Inside is a Babies R Us gift card with a duckie on it. I stamped 2 duckies from the Bitty Baby Blessings set, one in Lemon Tart and the other from the Polka dot paper, and layered them on top of the envelope. I tied Lemon Tart Twill around the envelope, and stamped 'For Baby' from BBB on a tag cut from a CuttleBug die. The teensy duck from BBB is in the corner, then I sponged on some Lemon Tart ink and tied it to my bow with sopme of the thinnest silver ribbon PTI sells.

If you are here looking at this, I bet you know all about the Papertrey 2nd Anniversary release, and all of the daily activities going on. If you don't, go 2 posts below and see the link. Today the prize is one each of all of the ribbons Papertrey sells, including the new colors for this month. Can you imagine how it would feel to open that box when it arrives? Actually, I just stopped for a moment and realized I do not know what I would be thinking if I were to open that box, lol.

Now! I will say that I had a very busy, tiring day yesterday, but there on the table when I finally made it home was a box from Papertrey. A free set! I won a January Guest Star Stamper free set! It came yesterday! While it was late and I was tired, it certainly motivated me to make yesterdays card and get it uploaded before bed~ All of that ribbon would certainly be inspiring!!

I love love love the 2 new colors and ribbons coming this month, they are so for baby cards, lol! I feel like Papertrey made them just for me!

ETA: I added a different view just so you can see the ducks really are not pooping Dew Drops, lol lol lol!! Maybe I will just take the bottom right ones off...!!!

Baby Challenge Card

Here's my Casual Midweek Challenge #40 entry over on the Papertrey forum. If I can just get one more challenge card made before Wednesday, I will be officially caught up! No lie, I have been behind since July, lol! If I can make 7 more baby cards before Wednesday, I can be even more caught upper. I guess I am so tired I can't even think, speak, or talk straight!

The images and sentiment are from Bitty Baby Blessings. The carriage was colored with Prisma pencils and blended with baby oil- how appropriate! The carriage was punched out with a Marvy blue punch, but I think the Berry Sorbet circle was a Nestability. I stamped the little images in SU's craft white ink using an image from their All Scallops set- then punched it out with SU's scallop border punch. Not easy to get those little suckers in the right spot, lol! Printed papers are both from Papertrey-the flowers are from the Pink Patterns 6 x 6 pad, the bottom paper is from their Polka Dot Basics 8 x 8 pad. Ribbons are Sweet blush Double Stitched and Spring Moss Twill. 3 little buttons finish it off. Say, rumor has it that Papertrey will be offering buttons to match their colors this month. While it may not be true, I sure am hoping it is!!

Papertrey Anniversary Challenge

So! Have you been following Papertrey's Anniversary celebrations? If not, my goodness, go here ! You don't know what you are missing!

Today's challenge was to use Pure Poppy, Ocean Tides, Summer Sunrise, and Ripe Avocado. The only other color I added was Spring Moss sponged around the stamped layer and the tag. I used Spring Moss so the edges wouldn't get too dark. The leaves are from Beautiful Blooms, happy birthday is from Flower Garden. The little red leaf is punched with a Carl punch, the tag is from Spellbinders. Ribbon is Summer Sunrise and Ocean Tides.

If I'd had more time to think about it, I would do something with the corners, and fix the center of the background paper where there are some lonely little yellow leaves, lol.

Another Valentine!

I am winding down with my Valentine creations, just one or two more to go! This one is not an original design, it's a take-off from one I bought at my favorite local paper shop, All About Paper in North Hampton, NH. Sorry, she doesn't have a web page!

The black paper is Japanese, the red is PTI's Pure Poppy, and the cream is also PTI's. I cut the heart in the red layer with a Nestability, then cut a heart 2 sizes smaller to make my puffed insert. I learned how to do the puffed dimensionals at All About Paper. Both the outer and inner edges of the red layer are edged with a Pilot Silver pen, and the little heart on top is an EK Success punch. The sentiment is from PTI's Heart Prints Sentiments, it's layered because it got mooshed, so I had to cover that error, lol!

Can you see the envelope? I stamped with flourish from SU's Doodle This, then stamped the tiny heart from PTI's Heart Prints here and there around the sentiment- very sweet!

Then, lol, rather than continue on with valentines or challenges, I stopped and covered my pen holders. How's that for procrastination?

Each of these pen holders started as 2 cubes from the dollar spot at Target. They were a pretty ugly turquoise paper- forgive me if you thought they were gorgeous when you bought them~ I covered them with SU's Cerise papers from a few years back. I've had them for a couple of weeks, and I'm really happy to have this many 'spots' for $6.00, plus the paper and glue!