Papertrey Ink Blog Hop - December 2017

Hello friends.  Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends.  Ours was a very small celebration as we were quite snowed in!  Michigan weather...what do you do?!!  We'll try again this Saturday to get everyone together!

This month's inspiration photo for the monthly blog hop is SOOO pretty:

Doesn't it make you think an elegant but rustic/country wedding??  I went in the direction of Valentine's Day and because I always tend to take things so literally, this is what I came up with:

 

I used one of the Primitive Stitched Heart Dies and lightly drew around it in pencil on a piece of white woodgrained cardstock.  I used a piece of the wreath from Birds & Blooms (yes, I actually cut a small section of the wreath...I do it with sentiments all the time, so figured why not with a piece of the wreath?!) and stamped the leaves all around the heart outline with just about every color PTI green and then filled in the flowers with Hibiscus Burst, Lovely Lady, Pale Peony, Berry Sorbet, & Autumn Rose.  Next I laid the die back over the pencil line and die cut and then used some light pink floss to stitch the heart.  My sentiment in the middle is from the Heart Squared set.

 
I used a piece of Soft Stone cardstock for my card base, and then added a piece of striped Soft Stone DSP to the bottom of the card base to mimic the fencing in the photo.  A little strip of Pale Peony cardstock helped to bring in a little more color to the background.

Can't wait to see all the beautiful cards everyone else comes up with...this really is one of my favorite times of the month at Papertrey!  You can check it all out right HERE.

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

Merry Christmas

"An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a savior has been born to you: he is Christ the Lord."   Luke 2: 9-11

Wishing each of you a very Blessed Christmas!

 

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

CAS Watercolour December 2017 - #2

Hello friends.  Just a quick post today.  Busy, busy, busy!!  Had made a couple watercoloured cards using the 2 new tree dies I received as one of the Top Tag Winners over at Loll's Twelve Tags of Christmas event.

And here's what I came up with using the new dies:

Aren't both of the tree dies SOOO pretty?!!  (They're both Aliexpress dies)  I kept both cards very CAS and just used my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolours for the 1st card and the splash technique with Distress Inks for the 2nd card.  My sentiments are both from Papertrey Ink.

Both cards use watercolouring, die cutting, and stamping/embossing.

This challenge ends on the 24th, but if you're one of the lucky ones who is all caught up and has time to play before Christmas, then check out all the beautiful inspiration and play along right HERE.

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

Make It Monday #307 - Faux Stained Glass

Hello friends.  Instead of finishing up projects for Christmas, I just had to play along with this weeks Make It Monday challenge where Laurie Schmidlin shows us how to make faux stained glass cards.  So easy, so much FUN, and the results are FABULOUS!!  Check out Laurie's wonderful video and BEAUTIFUL card HERE!!

I used the Mighty Bloom Cover Plate die and came up with this:

After die cutting the top layer out of white and adhering a piece of vellum to the back, I used the following Copics to color in the leaves on the back of the vellum: RV04, RV09, R29, & YG05.  Once you add the die cut fun foam and add it to the vellum layer, it really does resemble stained glass...yes, I did squeal a bit when I saw how cool it looked!!  :0)

I added a simple sentiment strip with Keep It Simple: Birthday embossed in white on black and then added a bright pink enamel dot.  This really was an easy card to make and I can't wait to try it with some of my other cover plate dies!

Check out Laurie's lovely card and video, and all the other beautiful cards already in the gallery, and then play along if you need a little Christmas break...you can find it all right HERE.
 

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

Tag You're It Challenge #79

Hello friends.  Over the past few years I have played along with some of the challenges at Tag You're It and am very sad to hear that this current challenge is their last one.  I know with so many different challenges out there that it's hard to keep them all going strong, so for now they are saying goodbye with this one last final challenge!  And what a beautiful tag Leigh Penner has designed for the final inspiration too!

CAS perfection, isn't it?!!  I was inspired by ALL of the tag...the color, the snowflake, the gold, and the touch of black for the sentiment.  Here's what I came up with:

I had a piece of water colored cardstock left over from a previous project that was just the right size to die cut a tag from and also the perfect colors, so this tag came together really easily!  I stamped my sentiment in black from Penny Black's Yuletide Wishes stamp set, and then added a die cut snowflake from PTI's Silver White Winters in gold mirror cardstock that I cut in half and glued the side and bottom of my tag.

 I finished with a few Nuvo Drops and some Coastal Cabana (SU!) ribbon and gold cording.  Think I'll have to attach this tag to my husbands gift bag of dark chocolate for Christmas!  :0)

This challenge closes tomorrow (Wednesday), so not much time left to play, but if you have a chance it would be great to see as many people as possible play along for this last challenge!  You can check it all out right HERE.

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

Merry Monday #270 - Christmas Tic-Tac-Toe

Hello friends.  This weeks Merry Monday challenge is brought to you by the lovely Kelly and she is having us do a fun Tic-Tac-Toe challenge this week.

For my card I went vertically using the first row down...stamping, die cut, & red.  I used another Penny Black stamp this week from the set called Merry Delight and came up with this cute card:

I stamped the snowman in black, colored him with my Copics (mostly Red R29 & R39), masked him, and then stamped some pine trees using a Deep Red stamp (Winter Pines).  Next I die cut a tag shape over my image using a Gina Marie Designs die and then attached that to a piece of DSP from PTI's Twig Wreath paper pad.  I also added a "joy" die cut from W Plus 9's Hand Lettered Holiday and a little piece of heavy Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine.  Decided it need a little bit of sparkle at this point...

Christmas is one week from today friends, so if you still need a card or two for that someone special, play along with us and this fun Tic-Tac-Toe challenge...remember you can go horizontal, vertical, or diagonal to play along!  We can't wait to see what YOU come up with in the gallery...check it all out right HERE.

The DT is taking a short break for two weeks, but we'll be back on January 8, 2018 to get you started again for next years stash!  Thank you so much to all of you for playing along with us this past year and wishing you all a most blessed Christmas and a very happy New Year!

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

CAS Watercolour December 2017

Hello friends.  The challenge this month at CAS Watercolour is ANYTHING GOES!

How easy, right?  And especially when you have a brand new die to use (thank you for the enabling Loll, Susan, & Bonnie!!)! 

Let me just say this card turned out NOTHING like what I was envisioning in my head, but when you're using water color, Brusho's, and salt, why am I even surprised?!  BUT, it all ended good and I'm happy with the end results!  Take a look:

I fell in LOVE with the Evergreen Window die (Memory Box) after seeing Loll, Susan, & Bonnie use it, so that was the easy part of my card.  Then I envisioned this real soft and pale blue wintry background with just a touch of pink in it.  Well obviously that didn't happen!!  I wanted to use Brusho's and thought if I used just a tiny bit of the Cobalt Blue, it would come out lighter.  WRONG!  There is nothing light about Brusho's and I'd forgotten how even just a small amount can be so vibrant once you add the water!  I had also added just a grain of crimson in what was the middle of my cardstock panel for that touch of pink that I had envisioned...well same as the blue, even just a grain of Brusho's comes out very vibrant!  While everything was still very wet, I also added some salt thinking that the resulting crystals would look like snow.  Maybe salt and Brusho's aren't the best combination as you can't see a whole lot of crystal action going on!

It was a good thought, but I think I'll save the salt technique for when I use my regular water colors!  My pink that I had envisioned being in the middle of my background ended up at the top of the background because I liked the way the blue looked on the bottom of my panel more than I liked the top part of the panel.  So this definitely did not turn out the way I first pictured it in my head, but oh well, I still am happy with the way it turned out!  (sentiment is from PTI's Beautiful Berries: Winter)

There is still time to play along with this challenge (closes the 24th), so if you have all your Christmas stuff done, check out what Loll and the DT have for inspiration, and then play along right HERE.

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

Create Along With Us - December 2017

Hello friends.  It's release week over at Papertrey Ink, so that means we get to CASE the designers with one of their cards.  And as always, it's hard to pick just one when they're all so wonderful!!

I was drawn to one of Melissa Phillips cards and just LOVED her use of all the color!!

As much as I LOVE making Christmas cards, when we get to this time of year I am just craving all the color of flowers, and Melissa's card just made my floral loving heart smile!!  Here's what I came up with using some floral sets I already have on hand:

I stuck with most of the same colors as Melissa (Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, Lilac Grace, Sweet Blush, Autumn Rose, Hibiscus Burst, Simply Chartreuse, & Harvest Gold), and then used the heart dies from Limitless Layers: Hearts and several stamp sets for the flowers.  The bulk of the flowers are from an older set (Beautiful Brushstrokes) that I haven't used in ages, and then some from Friendship Jar Flowers, Bitty Bouquets, Vintage Linens (for the leaves), and Cutaway Tags: Spring (for the sentiment).  An Aqua Mist satin ribbon and some white Nuvo drops finished off my colorful CASE of Melissa's card.

LOTS of beautiful cards from ALL the designers this month, so check them out and then play along for a chance at a $25 gift certificate!  You can find it all right HERE.

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

Merry Monday #269 - A Color Challenge

Hello friends.  This weeks challenge at Merry Monday is brought to us by Debbie, and she has a FUN color challenge for you!

Easy peasy, right?  Just pick 3 of your favorite holiday colors and create away!  As much as I love using non traditional colors, at heart, I'm still a big fan of red & green!

I had to have SU!'s Painted Harvest when it first came out a few months back because of a card similar to this I had seen on Pinterest, and I finally took it out of the package to play today!  I used Old Olive and Mossy Meadow inks for my 2 greens on the wreath, and then Cherry Cobbler ink for the berries and Cherry Cobbler cs for the letters to spell out JOY.  (SSS Big Joy)  A few sequins and some Cherry Cobbler thick bakers twine finished off my CAS card.

Two weeks till Christmas friends, so pick 3 favorite colors and play along with us this week!  You can find all the details and beautiful inspiration from the rest of the DT right HERE. 

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

Color Throw Down #472

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Color Throw Down challenge where it's all about red, black, & gray this week.

And here's what I came up with using those colors:

I used the polar bear from MFT's Polar Bear Pals set and some DSP from SU!'s Merry Little Christmas to create this gift card holder.  (Card base is 4 1/4 x 11 and scored at 2, 7 1/4, & 7 3/8, and then the insert is 6 1/2 x 3 3/4 and scored at 1 3/4 & 6)  Here's the inside:

 
And how cool was it that I had a gift card with the colors of this challenge on it to use for my photo?!!  The sentiment on the inside insert is from PTI's Think Big Favorites #20.  This is a fun little gift card holder that's fun to watch the insert slide up and down as you open and close the card...somewhat interactive!!  :0)  And if I would have paid attention to the directions and used a ribbon around the bottom fold instead of gluing it shut with tear n tape, you could actually close the top flap of the card with the tabs made by using the envelope punch board!  Oh well, live and learn!!  If you want to watch the video of how to make this gift card holder, you can check it out right HERE.

There's still a few days left to play along with this challenge, so check out the inspiration from the DT and then play along right HERE.
 

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

CAS Mix Up December 2017

Hello friends.  Playing along with this month's CAS Mix Up challenge where we can add 2 items of our choice plus stamping.

I chose die cutting and embossing to go with my stamping and came up with this:

Isn't the die cut circle with the stars so cool looking?!  A sweet friend gifted it to me and I loved finally being able to use it...thank you!!  I cut it from a shimmery gold cardstock.  The trees (Aliexpress) were die cut in white and then I blended them with Mossy Meadow ink (SU!) and then used some Frantage Shabby White Embossing Enamel on them.  Here's a closer up:

I love the bits of gold and glitter that are in that embossing enamel too...really gives your image dimension and sparkle too!  My sentiment was stamped and embossed in gold using PTI's Beautiful Berries: Winter stamp set.

Lots of time to play along with this challenge yet (it's open till the 24th of this month), so check out what the DT came up with for inspiration, and then play along right HERE.

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

Make It Monday #306 - Easy Fan Brush Trees

Hello friends.  Playing along with Betsy and this week's Make It Monday challenge, where it's all about creating easy fan brush tree's.  Well, Betsy makes it look easy, but I can tell I'm going to need some more practice!  It was still great fun and I loved learning something new!  Here's what I came up with:

I blended my background with Aqua Mist and Hawaiian Shores inks, and then started the water coloring with Simply Chartreuse and Ripe Avocado inks.  I added the white acrylic paint like Betsy did and also did some splattering to add a little more "snow".  I trimmed my cardstock with a stitched rectangle die and then added some fun foam to the back to raise it a bit off my card base.  My sentiment is from Snowfall Style and I think it perfectly fits this wintery scene.

You can check out Betsy's BEAUTIFUL card, video, and all the other cards in the gallery right HERE and then play along.

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

A Rainbow Winter

Hello friends.  Just a quick post today.  Finally got a chance to play with my new Catherine Pooler Spa Collection inks and the Winter Woodland stamp set.  I have been so inspired lately by all the rainbow cards Kristie has been making, like right HERE .  Here's what I came up with:

Not realistic but FUN, right?!!  I embossed in clear the trees from the Winter Woodland set, and then started at the left and began blending Peppermint Scrub, Mandarin Spice, Sauna, Green Tea, Juniper Mist, & Royal Treatment inks and oh do I LOVE how they blend!!  Did a little water splattering and then added my snow banks (from the Winterhaven Die collection) and deer.  The sentiment is also from the Winter Woodland set.  Maybe I could pretend this is a Northern Lights card??!!  Fun set to play with and I really like how my card turned out!  Thank you Kristie for ALL your Rainbow inspiration lately...I've been loving it!!

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

Inspired By All The Little Things #75

Hello friends.  Playing along with Inspired By All The Little Things challenge and this fabulous inspiration photo:

I was inspired by the wood paneling in the background, the skates, the star, and of course the beautiful soft blue color.  This is what I came up with:

I used Weathered Wood Distress Ink for my hardwood background (SU!) and although my photo looks more gray than blue, in real life it really is a soft blue!  I also used the same ink around the edges of the 2 stars.  The skate die cut is a Gina Marie Designs (the stars and the scalloped circle too) and I added a bit of soft blue sparkle paper for the blades of the skate.  Not too realistic, but hey, artistic license and all that, right?!  My sentiment is from PB's Yuletide Wishes stamp set.  A very CAS card and I'm really happy with the way it turned out!

You can check out GD Bobby Hagen's card and all the rest of the DT cards right HERE and then play along...there's still a few days left!

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

Merry Monday #268 - Santa Hat

Hello friends.  This weeks Merry Monday challenge is brought to us by Deanne and she would like to see a SANTA HAT on your Christmas cards.

Isn't that little guy so cute all dressed up in his Santa suit and hat?!!  Wish my dogs would sit still long enough to put something like that on!  Oh well, I got my hat fix by using an older Penny Black set called Winter Wonderland.

Aren't these little birdies in their Santa hats just too cute?!  I just stamped them in black and then only colored their hats red so that the hats would stand out on the card.  After fussy cutting them out I attached then to a new Memory Box die cut called Snowflake Spectacle and then added a black sentiment banner with Christmas Wishes (PTI's Cutaway Tags: Winter) embossed in white.  A piece of heavy white bakers twine and a little pink chalk for the birdies cheeks finished off my card.

We're really getting down to the wire here friends, so if your Christmas card stash is not complete yet, find those stamps with a SANTA HAT on them and make a card or two to share with us at Merry Monday!  You can find all the info you need right HERE.

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