Papertrey March Blog Hop

Nothing like being late to the game, eh? But hey, it's the right day and the stars aren't out yet, so who's being picky??

Just got a call from work, and I need to get there ASAP. I'll fix the post later. In case that turns out to be tomorrow, here's the quick deets:

• Qulter's Sampler Sentiments


• A nesty die


• DMC floss that matches Aqua Mist- DMC 3811


• knit on size 1 needles, then slid onto 2 toothpicks, then toothpicks cut shorter


• Bitty Blessings paper, Spring Moss and Stamper's Select


• Guidelines Grid Impression plate
• Copic marker making striped ribbon on Fresh Snow satin ribbon
  
  

Here's a close up of the Impression plate making quilting lines. Hard to see, it's very subtle but really perfect for a 'quilted' feel.

October PTI Blog Hop

Eeek! I almost forgot the Blog Hop format changes again, lol!!

So, gee whiz, two blog or website lessons:
1. Don't talk politics
2. Don't talk religion

Uh oh, I think I am going to break that rule in this post.

One of the things I love about the PTI forum is how happy and accepting it is. Every once in a while something erupts, of course. Religion this time, I think. I am sorry about that. I think this month we were to make a winter season card, and I interpreted it to mean we were to think outside of the Christmas box. Easy for me, hard for some, I guess.

I used Mozel Tov and MT Additions to make this Hanukkah card for a co-worker. Woo Hoo! One card down 149 to go!

I first made the background paper with alcohol inks, using both the direct to ink and the tapped on method. I stamped the menorah in Versafine Onyx black and heat dried. Layered on True Black, the card base is silver shimmer. There's a wee bit of yellow Pearl Pen in the flames. the sentiment is done in silver detail EP. 9 SU brads finish off the right hand edge.



Forgot the inside when IU first put up the post...


Next up is a different kind of 'winter holiday' card. Since we are atheist's, we recognize and celebrate each solstice during the lunar/calendar year. We celebrate Mother Earth and Father Time, so to speak, and the changing of the season is way important for us. Gee, how would we know when to start chopping wood and when we can stop? Ok, no more politic or religion, lol!!



Inside and Out Holiday works great for the thought of the Winter solstice. The center yellow and red alcohol ink represents both the fire on the hearth that must burn from now until the Spring solstice, but also the light at the end of the dark winter months. The magic is, of course, that Spring will come again! The image is edged with a gold pilot pen, layered onto Smokey Shadow CS then put on the card base of Shimmer Gold.

The date was done on my computer, and printed out on Stamper's Select CS Vellum
I had to make the glitter brads with glue and glitter. Not terribly successful; I am hopping the glue will be dry by December 21st!

Thanks for reading to the end on this long Blog Hop evening!

Papertrey Blog Hop- and Philosophy

September's challenge from Nichole for tonight's Blog Hop is to 'show off any skill you might have learned from any stamper.'

So here's my philosophical thinking~ I do not consider myself having created any technique in card making that is mine, only mine- an original thought, so to speak. In philosophy, there is much discussion about whether there is such a thing as original thought, or is every thought (or creation) anyone has just built upon what comes before... is that too obtuse to think about on Blog Hop night? Suffice it to say that I consider everything I do in card making is learned from some other stamper.

The trick this month, then, was to think about which technique or tip has had the biggest effect on me. Ah! That's easy!

Look at these!

Early in my card making I went to All About Paper LLC in Hampton, NH (www.allaboutpaperllc.com). There, an entirely new world of card making was opened up to me~ I saw the most wonderful imported papers, and all kinds of things made from them- cards, 3-D items, and best of all, alcohol inks!


From Catherine, I learned how to line edges with a gold Pilot pen, how to let the paper carry the card, and how to get things to look 3 dimensional even when they are flat. And, lol, I learned to love little gold stickers!!

Mostly, though, I learned how to use alcohol inks. For that lesson, I am forever grateful!

She told me about score-tape that is 6 inches wide, and how it will hold down any thick photo paper, and also how when you punch through the stock then put the tape on the back- glitter will stick! She also taught me how to use an xacto knife with a ruler and cutting mat to get perfectly straight lines. Wow, I needed that, and went home and threw away my cutter that always made for wonky cuts. Freedom!

Catherine's cards also use lots of layers to pull the color away from the central image all the way to the edge. Can you see the gold in the inked background? Another lesson from Catherine: how to use metallic's with your inks.

Here's the last card tonight, hard to see in the photo, and maybe I've shown you this one before~ but a great example of using those imported papers along with alcohol inks, how to create a planned image with inks, and how to stamp on top of the inks!

Other than the fact that it's tough to make baby cards with alcohol inks, lol, it's still my favorite way of creating cards!

Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom, lol, and now carry on with your hopping!