Bokeh Birthday

Hello friends.  When I was making my cards for the PTI Blog Hop, I had a few extra background pieces that didn't make the cut for the challenge, but they weren't bad enough to throw away either, so I turned them into Bokeh backgrounds.  And I love what I came up with!  Take a look:

My girlfriend Sue gave me the really cool flower stamp (Penny Black) for my birthday a few weeks ago, and I just absolutely love how it looks against the background!  I did emboss it (and the "happy" from PTI's "Wet Paint" stamp set) with black embossing powder.  I did learn something with this card that I'll pass along to you fellow stampers...you can't stamp with regular dye ink on a Bokeh background!  I was able to make a "save" when I learned that little tidbit with this card though!  When I first stamped my sentiment with my Momento Tuxedo Black ink, it looked terrible!  Where the ink hit parts of the white circles that are stamped with pigment ink, the color showed up as gray instead of black...grrrrrr!  So I stamped the sentiment again (thank goodness for clear stamps!!!) with Versamark and then embossed using black embossing powder.  So a good tip for Bokeh backgrounds is to use die cuts or embossing when adding directly to that layer! :0)

Thanks so much for stopping by today and have a wonderful weekend!  We get to do the wonderful FAFSA this weekend and so looking forward to it...NOT!!!  I definitely don't want to wish my youngest daughters life away, but I will be so happy when we don't have to do this anymore!  Why can't the government just write things out in plain English so we can understand what they're asking?!!  OK, done ranting! :0)

Merry Monday #147 - Stars

Good morning friends.  Playing along with the Merry Monday challenge where Bonnie asks us to use a star on our Christmas card.  The stamps I used are an older retired SU! set called "The Sounding Joy" and I love this set that features both a star and one of my most favorites words "Joy"!  Take a look:

I also used a couple Spellbinder star dies to create the red glitter open star that I tucked under the ribbon, and the PTI "Super Star Border Die" for the red glittered strip of stars down the one edge of the card.  It doesn't show up very well in my photo, but I stamped the "Joy" in Delicata's Silvery Shimmer pigment ink and then embossed over it with clear embossing powder.  It gives off a real delicate and soft shimmer against the boldness of the red that I wish I could have captured in the photo, instead of the way it just looks like gray!  I was so excited too when I found a piece of vellum in my stash that was embossed with stars, and had to use that on my card too! :0)  So anyway, I think I got quite a few stars incorporated into my one small card and I really like how it turned out!

  
You can check out all the other beautiful cards, and all the info you need to play along, right here.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!! :0)

February 2014 PTI Blog Hop

Hello friends.  Time for Papertrey Ink's monthly Blog Hop, and this one got me really excited to play along!  LOVED the colors in the inspiration photo, and this is what I came up with:

I used Distress Ink's for my background (Worn Lipstick, Dusty Concord, Tumbled Glass, & Salty Ocean), and then embossed in white the Lilac image from Botanical Blocks II.  My sentiment is from "Reasons to Smile", and I embellished with a little black and white bakers twine and a few rainstones.  Couldn't stop with just one, soooooooooo...

Used the other image from "Botanical Blocks II" for this card (not sure what this flower is...peony??) and basically made it the same way but just changed up the sentiment ("Think Big Favorites: #22).

No sun when I took my photos, but IRL my colors are much bolder!

You can check out all the other entries and hop along by following this link here.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day! :0)

Make it Monday #202 - Anchoring w/ Border & Banner Dies

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Make it Monday challenge this week, where Melissa Phillips shows a couple absolutely beautiful cards with lots of embellishments and layers and then anchors it all with a couple border and banner dies.  I basically CASED Melissa's card, as it was just so "Spring-like" and it's been a loooooooong winter here!  Take a look:

I found some pre-printed vellum in my stash and used that over my Ripe Avocado Bitty Dot tag (Tag Sale #3) and over my Harvest Gold (Pattern Pack) butterfly (Life is Beautiful).  I also added the scalloped heart from "Limitless Layers: Hearts, the Heart Border die, the banner die from Fabulous Frames Die Collection (the sentiment on the banner is from the new Lovely Laurels stamp set), and then a flower die cut from the Button Stacks II.  A little yellow flower sequin from the Lovely Laurels was glued to the center of the flower die cut.  My tulips on the bottom left of the card are from the new Bitty Bouquet stamp set and stamped in Lemon Tart, Harvest Gold, Spring Moss, & Ripe Avocado inks.  I also added a little strip of the striped DSP from the Harvest Gold Pattern Pack. 

 You can check out the other entries and Melissa's beautiful cards and video all on Heather's blog right here.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)

Tag You're It Challenge #15

Good morning friends.  Playing along with the Tag You're It challenge, and just squeaking in with only 2 days left!  Nothing like waiting till the last minute, right?!!  Anyway, I loved Donna Mikasa's card and tag with her rainbow of color, and used that rainbow of color as my inspiration.  Take a look:

 
I used PTI's Tag Sale # 10 die to cut out my tag and then used the smallest butterfly stamp from the "Life is Beautiful" set (also PTI).  Then I used one of the dots from "Polka Dot Basics" (PTI) to highlight each of the butterflies in a rainbow of colored inks (Hawaiian Shores, Winter Wisteria, Orange Zest, Hibiscus Burst, Harvest Gold, Limeade Ice, & Lavender Moon).  The "Smile" sentiment is from PTI's "Reasons To Smile" stamp set, and I also added some pink polka dotted washi tape to the bottom of the tag.  Since Donna's tag and card looked water colored, and I always seem to mess up on water coloring, I decided to add a few rainstones to mimic the water element in the tag. 

You can check out all the other entries and if you're really quick, play along, right here.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!! :0)

Make it Monday #201 - Cover Plate Stencils & Embossing Paste

Hello friends.  Because it was such a COLD day here today, I stayed in and played in my stamp room and made a card for the current Make it Monday challenge.  I wasn't going to play this week as I only own one cover plate and feel like I use it for every challenge that uses cover plates.  I also don't own any embossing paste. (may need to rectify that!)  I've still been following the different cards that have been entered, and a few of the gals have said they used Glossy Accents with the stencils they made from their cover plates....hmmmmmmmm.....I could do that!  Wasn't as easy for me as it sounded!  The Glossy Accents kept getting under the stencil and just looked really messy!  I finally got one to come out that looked kind of ok, so I went with it.  Take a look:

The original plan had been to have the chevrons covering the whole background, but I was so happy to finally get 2 that didn't look terrible, that I quit and said that 2 was just fine! :0)  The rest of my card was inspired by a beautiful card I saw on one of the 8th Anniversary challenges where they used mostly black and white flowers from the "Doodlie-Do" stamp set. I also added a flower from "Beautiful Blooms" and leaves from "Pretty Petals" stamp sets.  My sentiment is from "Wet Paint" dies and stamp set.  I finished with a couple of enamel dots.

Lots of beautiful inspiration and Laurie's card and video over on Nichole's blog that you can check out right here. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend! :0)

Lost Lagoon...Again!!

Hello friends.  Just a quick post sharing another card using SU!'s Lost Lagoon ink (hey, it was still sitting on my desk yesterday and I thought "why not?!!") and "Painted Petals" stamp set.  Take a look:

Went with a monochromatic background and embossed the top half with the Painted Petals embossing folder and then sponged lightly with Lost Lagoon ink.  The bottom half I used the 3 stripes from the Painted Petal set and stamped, then stamped off to get the two tone striping.  I used Blackberry Bliss and Primrose Petals for the flowers.  After I finally figured out how to line up the leaves and flowers, this whole card really came together quite quickly! :0)

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!  And stay warm!!  We're up to -5 ... woohoo!!  Even the dogs don't want to go outside...grrrrrrr!!

Blooming with Kindness

Hello friends.  Needed a few quick cards yesterday, so I did some monochromatic ones, and I really like how this one turned out!  Take a look:

I am kinda in love with the color Lost Lagoon right now, so although I know you'd never see a real flower in this actual color, I really like the way it looks! (artistic license, right?!)  I used the "Donna" technique (that's what my SU! demo calls it) on the flower, which is repeatedly stamping without re-inking MANY times, but only moving the stamp just a tiny bit...this gives the image a soft and filled in look.  The leaves are from PTI's "Beautiful Blooms" and I stamped them off and then re-inked just the edges to give a two toned look.  The sentiment is from PTI's "Embroidered Blooms".  I finished by adding a dyed seam binding ribbon with Soft Sky ink, and a few rainstones.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful (and WARM) day!  (I'm SO sick of the COLD and snow...how about you????)  

Merry Monday #146 - Santa

Hello friends.  Playing with the challenge at Merry Monday this week, and using a Santa on our cards.  My favorite of ALL my Santa stamps is a retired stamp by Flourishes called "Santa I believe", so the challenge to me was to come up with a card different than the others I've made over the years.  Not sure I succeeded, but I ended up making 2, and the one I liked best was this one:

I stamped the Santa in Soft Suede ink on cream colored cs and then cut a smaller layer of deep red Coredinations cs that I embossed with a swirled ef (The Paper Studio) and then lightly sanded.  I popped this layer up with some dimensionals and added a star die cut from Cherry Cobbler cs and stamped with "be very merry" from SU!.  I tied a bit of bakers twine behind the star and added a diamond dot for some bling.

My 2nd card is actually the first card I made, and while I like it, I like the one above better.  Here's the 1st one I made:

I used Soft Suede ink again (I love the vintage look this color gives the Santa!) and stamped the Santa off to the right a bit on my card base.  Next I stamped a smaller layer with SU!'s "Hardwood" background stamp and then used my Lil Inkers Stitched Circle dies to cut out the circle off centered.  I also popped this layer up using dimensionals.  I added a cream colored seam binding ribbon and a Simon Says Stamp Merry Christmas die cut from glittered red cardstock.  I really do like this card, but like the other one just a tad bit more.  Which one do you like best?  Would love to hear your thoughts! :0)

You can check out all the other Santa cards and get info to play along right here.   

Thanks so much for stopping by...I love it when you do! :0)

Matchbook Treats

Hello friends.  Meant to post this little Valentine's Day treat holder on Valentine's Day, and forgot...yes, I am getting older!  Anyway, take a look:

I got the idea and measurements from SU! Becky Roberts and then just did my own design.  You start with a 2 3/4 x 7 1/4 piece of cardstock and then score at 3", 3 1/2", and 6 3/4".  I stamped the "Heart Squared" (PTI) with Pure Poppy, Autumn Rose, & Scarlet Jewel inks, and then added the die cut from "Wonderful Words: Love" (also PTI) with black cs.  I used the same color inks on the little arrow I stamped on the bottom (a Michael's $1 stamp from years ago).  I added some bakers twine and a few sequins to finish off the decorating and then added the pkg of M & M's .  Quick and easy and you could use these for any holiday or special occasion.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful (and WARM!!) day! :0) 

Happy Valentine's Day Addy!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  Just a quick post to share the Valentine's Day card I made for my granddaughter Addy.  The stamp I used is from the Unity Stamp Co., and is a snowman stamp that I think is supposed to be used for Christmas, but it had hearts on it, so I'm using it for Valentine's Day.  Take a look:

And of course I had to make it a shaker card as what little girl doesn't like a shaker card?!! :0)  Rather than using the 2 sided sticky foam this time, I tried using the fun foam that I've been hearing a lot of people say works better, and it really does!  No more sequins and glitter sticking to the sides and not shaking around! 

And just in case you'd like to see what my little peanut looks like these days.........

Happy Valentine's Day Addy!  Grandma & Grandpa LOVE you!! :0)

PTI 8th Anniversary Day 8 - Blue Skies

Hello friends.  Still a day behind on the challenges over at Papertrey Ink for their 8th anniversary celebration, but I couldn't not play with yesterday's challenge, which was to make a blue ombre effect card.  I'll apologize for the quality of my photo right up front, but it is SO hard to get a decent photo when it is gray and cloudy outside!  So use your imagination, and try to picture the white part of my image being shiny.  Take a look:

I started by stamping my images from "Meadow Greens" with Versamark and heat embossing with clear embossing powder.  Next I used distress inks (Stormy Sky, Tumbled Glass, & Salty Ocean) to create my "Blue Skies" background.  Really love the emboss resist technique and how it makes your images just "pop"!  My sentiment is from "Boutique Borders: Sympathy" stamp set. 

LOTS of beautiful Blue Sky entries over on Nichole's blog, and you can check them all out right here.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!

PTI 8th Anniversary Day 7 - Heavy Metal Challenge

Hello friends.  The challenge for day 7 is to use just gold and/or silver and neutrals.  I had to think about this one for a bit as it's not my style, but I have to admit it ended up being fun and I really like the card I came up with!  Take a look:

I used a cream cs for my card base, and then stamped 3/4 of the card with a French script and Delicata Golden Glitz ink.  Then I embossed my sentiment (Life is Beautiful) with gold embossing powder.  Next I added a strip of glittery gold cs to separate the script background and the sentiment, and then added the wreath (Rustic Wreath) and butterfly (Life is Beautiful) from gold mirror cs and a foil embossed cs.  I had to laugh after I took my photos and realized that you can see bits of me taking the pictures in the gold mirror cs! :0)  I finished with a few gold sequins.  I have a friend who is turning 50 this summer, and I think I'll save this card for her "golden" birthday.

You can see all the other creative entries over on Nichole's blog right here.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day! :0)

Merry Monday #145 - Candy Canes

Hello friends.  The challenge this week at Merry Monday's is to use a candy cane on your card.  I feel like I'm repeating myself (see this post here), but I'm very limited in candy cane stamps!  So here it is again just a little bit different:

I used an IO stamp (E8612) and colored with my Copics (R29, R39, YG63, C1, & E13).  I added a bit of Dazzling Diamonds (SU!) to the candy cane and ribbon, and some red Stickles for the berries.  The little tag is from PTI's "Tiny Tags" and I used a Lil Inkers Stitched Circle die for the main image.  The background DSP is SU!.  So quick and easy I made a few of them and even finished the insides too! :0)

 

Don't ya LOVE this photo???  I would love to have that decoration in my house at Christmas time!  You can check out all the other candy cane entries and info to play along right here.

 

 

Thanks so much for stopping by...I love it when you do!

PTI 8th Anniversary Day 5 - Springtime

Hello again.  I'm caught up!  I'm posting day 5's challenge on day 5...yeah!!  Today we are to "Spring" into action and use a stamp that we have never used before (or it's been a looooooong time since it's seen ink).  I had the Daydreamer and Wet Paint sets out from yesterday, and while it had been awhile since I've used the Daydreamer set, it has been well loved, and I didn't think it would qualify as a NBUS (love you Darnell!!) stamp.  However, when I looked at the Wet Paint set, I realized I had never used the "enjoy" die or "your day" stamp, so that's what I used for today's card.  Take a look:

I used a Make it Monday technique from a while ago where you stack multiple die cuts to raise the sentiment up...love this look!  After inking up the poppies, I misted the stamp with water before stamping, and I also used my Aquapainter to soften the edges of the flowers too.  A very CAS card, but I like the way it turned out! :0)

You can check all the other entries out right here.

SO much inspiration over on Nichole's blog...THANK YOU Papertrey Ink for having a anniversary!

 

PTI 8th Anniversary Day 4 - Build A Bouquet

Hello friends.  Day 4 over at PTI's 8th Anniversary celebration is all about building a bouquet of flowers using several of your stamp sets.  I chose to use Simple Sunflower, Rosie Posie, Friendly Flowers, Daydreamer, & Songbirds.  Here's what I came up with:

 

 

 

I used the Chevron Cover Plate with white cs and layered it on a Winter Wisteria card base, and then built my bouquet around my rectangle sentiment layer (Wet Paint die and stamp).  I used Raspberry Fizz, Orange Zest, Winter Wisteria,  & Aqua Mist to stamp my flowers.  I finished with a few pink enamel dots and some black & white bakers twine.  I liked how this one turned out so much that I made a 2nd card with a "hello" sentiment:

 

 

There are some awesome bouquets to check out over on Nichole's blog, and you can see them all right here. 

 

 

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)



PTI 8th Anniversary Day 3 - Bagged & Tagged

Hello friends.  Still a day behind, but I'll catch up sooner or later!  Playing with the Day 3 challenge of Bagged and Tagged, and I made a tag and pillow box to go along with my hubby's Valentine card that I posted here.  Take a look:

I used the Limitless Layers: Hearts for my tag, and folded a piece of red cardstock in half and then die cut the heart leaving a small section on the side off of the die so that the tag would open.  I used the scalloped edge heart die for the black back layer.  The "love" and "you" are both from the Wet Paint die and stamp set, and the little stamped hearts are from the Big Hugs stamp set.  The pillow box die is also PTI and that will hold some of the dark chocolate hearts that my husband loves! :0)

Thanks for stopping by today, and you can check out all the other great entries over on Nichole Heady's blog right here.

Day 1 PTI 8th Anniversary - DT Inspiration

Hello again!  Trying to stay caught up with the daily challenges over at PTI for their 8th Anniversary celebration!  This challenge is choosing a color recipe card and a sketch recipe card from several different ones listed, and then coming up with a card.  I picked what I thought was a fairly simple sketch to follow, and of course you know how that goes!  Take a look:

You're probably wondering what could be so difficult about a layout like this, and for probably 99% of the population it wouldn't be.  For me though, I'm too anal about everything lining up perfectly and the background HAPPY BIRTHDAY is what gave me fits and 5 different tries!  I think I need to invest in some of those acrylic blocks that have the grid lines on them to make lining up things easier!  After that, the card was a breeze.  It's also a little more sparkly IRL, as I used a Wink of Stella pen on the white parts of the petals.  I embossed with clear embossing powder the HAPPY BIRTHDAY on the Hawaiian Shores banner, so that adds a little more shine to the card too. :0)

Stamps used:  Pretty Petals, & Keep It Simple: Birthday

 



You can check out all the other great entries right here.  And happy, happy 8th Anniversary Papertrey Ink...everything about you is just AMAZING!!

Thanks for stopping by again...appreciate it!

PTI 8th Anniversary Day 2 - Maile Style

Hello friends.  The challenge for Day 2 in PTI's 8th Anniversary contest is to create a Maile Belles style card...super clean and minimal, but strikingly bold is how I see Maile.  Here is my interpretation of one of her cards:

I had to laugh as I was going to put a solid Raspberry Fizz butterfly under the stamped butterfly layer to coordinate with the dotted DSP paper, but then thought Maile wouldn't have done that...she would opt for the brighter orange! :0)  The stamped layer is using the baby wipe technique and re-inkers.

Stamps and dies are both from PTI's "Life is Beautiful".

Thanks for stopping by today...love it when you do!

Merry Monday #144 - Bows

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Merry Monday challenge today and adding a bow to my card.

Used a Spellbinders embossing folder and a piece of Tim Holtz Kraft-Core core'dinations cardstock for the wreath and then lightly sanded it to bring out the kraft color.  For my bow, I dyed a piece of seam binding ribbon with Soft Suede re-inker and some water (so it wouldn't be so dark), and then tied it up with some gold cord, jingle bells, a tiny tag, and some twine.  I also added a few champagne colored pearls to the wreath and tag to add a bit of bling.  This was actually a pretty easy card to do, and I really like how shabby vintage, but elegant it turned out! :0)

Make sure you check out all the other gorgeous cards in the gallery and from the design team over at the Merry Monday site.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)

TYIC#14

Good morning friends.  Just a quick post today, but wanted to share a tag I made for the current challenge over at Tag You're It.  Some beautiful inspiration for this challenge and I chose to interpret it into a Valentines tag.  Take a look:

 
I used PTI's Tag Sale #5 die to cut out my red tag and then stenciled the background with a Heidi Swapp stencil and Real Red Ink.  I used a couple pieces of washi tape on the bottom and then stamped my cupid (Craft Smart $1 stamp from Michael's) in black ink.  I finished by adding a tiny strip and small heart of POW Silver Glitter Paper and a piece of black and white bakers twine.  I'm going to attach these tags to some small white gift bags to hold the treats for my youngest daughter and her college roomies.

 
You can check out ALL the inspiration and info on playing along right here .

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)

MIM#200 - Layering Cover Plate Die Cuts

Good morning friends.  Playing along with PTI's Make it Monday challenge today, and I'm still on a pink and black kick (see yesterday's post here )!  Dawn McVey shows us how to layer our cover plate dies, and since I only have one cover plate die, my choice was easy!  I really like how it turned out though...take a look:

I simply cut out my chevron cover plate twice with pink & black card stock and layered them onto a white card base.  Love how just that little bit of black peeking out behind the pink  really makes a bold background!  My heart is from the Limitless Layers: Hearts dies, and I stamped with Versamark the small leaves and flower from the Embroidered Blooms stamp set and then embossed them with white embossing powder.  I added the "love" die from the Wet Paint set, and embossed the "you" also with white embossing powder on a scrap of black card stock.  A dyed seam binding ribbon, silver cording, a black enamel dot, and a couple silver dots finished the heart, along with a little bit of silver embossing around the scalloped edges of the heart.  This was one of those cards that came together so easily and just how I pictured it in my head...don't ya just love it when that happens?!! :0)

You can check out Dawn's great video and card, and all the info you need to play along over on Nichole's blog right here .  This is Papertrey Ink's 200th Make it Monday video, so that means almost 4 years of video inspiration every week!  I love Make it Monday's and have learned SO much over the past 2 years that I have been playing along...thank you PTI!!!! :0)

Thanks so much for stopping by today and have a wonderful Wednesday!

Eat Cake!

Hello friends.  Another birthday card to share with you today.  I am absolutely loving the "Big Day" stamp set from SU!'s Sale-A-Bration...and the fact that it was FREE makes it even more loveable!!!  Take a look:

This was such a quick and easy card to make!  I used a 2 sided piece of card stock from a My Mind's Eye 6 x 6 paper pad and a PTI "Tag Sale #8" die for the pink dotted background and the pink striped tag.  I stamped the sentiment in Whisper White pigment ink (SU!) on black cardstock and then stamped again with black ink on a scrap of Pretty in Pink (SU! - retired) cardstock, and then fussy cut the "CELEBRATE" banner and pop dotted over the black tag.  I added a seam binding ribbon dyed with Pretty in Pink re-inker and some black & white bakers twine to finish the tag and then pop dotted that to the card base.  I also stamped the cake and candle down at the bottom and then finished with a few pink sequins. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I think I'm going to go make a cake! :0)