Happy Birthday Card

Sometimes you've just got to take a break from all the holiday festivities and do something else. And thus, we have the always needed Happy Birthday card. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE coloring that butterfly with Copics from Butterfly Dreams. It's ideal to show off the awesome blendability of the markers.  And I also love teaming up the butterfly die with this embossing folder by Provo Craft. Not the first time I've done it, and certainly not the last. When you find something that works, go for it as many times as you like.


Supplies:

Stamps: Butterfly Dreams
Dies: Butterfly and Tag Sale 1
Patterned paper: 2009 Bitty Dot Basics
Ribbon and Button: Ocean Tides

Crafty Sunday

Just a couple of crafty girls here, playing away the afternoon with Papertrey Ink goodies. I think I blew my little niece's mind when I showed her how to make flowers using Bloom Builder dies, felt, and my Big Shot. We hot glued them onto some Goody headbands (which I got on sale for 6/$1). She had a complete ball choosing dies, felt and button colors. The sky was the limit. and this was all after a morning in which I marched her into my office to the ribbon wall and asked her which color she'd like to tie in her pony tail. Hawaiian Shores looked lovely in that deep rich red mane she's got going on. Yep, I'm a big hit with the 5 feet and under set. It's what aunties do. But who am I kidding...I adored having somebody to play with. A little look into the future with my EJ.

How's everybody doing on Christmas? I finished my shopping today. I'm in charge of shopping for all the Lincoln grandkids for my MIL. It's been a lot of fun. Still got to wrap it all up. Will do that one night this week with the hubby.  Want to make homemade peppermint marshmallows and homemade hot chocolate mix still, but crossed sugar cookies off my list yesterday. I liked them, because once decorated by heavy handed children, I'm not so inclined to eat them.Hank, on the other hand, was caught red handed at 6 AM sitting at the kitchen table dining on some without parental consent. Little stinker.

Got a few little last Christmas projects to show you. Tonight is a card I did to round out a card set with Take Three: Winter. There are three other cards in the set, all which are in my PTI gallery (and that's currently unavailable, so sorry there's no link). This one didn't use the stamps, but rather the die, so I kept it to myself until now. I used a Ranger Ink Essentials applicator to apply Scarlet Jewel ink to a stencil I made with the Take Three Die. Rustic Snowflakes and Text Style were stamped inside. Lots of other PTI goodies there as well.  This card was a lot of fun to make. :)

Off to put my feet up. It's been a busy weekend with an extra kid under foot. Loving it, really. Just throws your rhythm off a bit.

December PTI Release

I realized last night as I was uploading my stuff in the gallery, that there isn't much left unseen when you do a countdown post and two group posts! But I've got a couple little things of this fabulous release.

Little Birdie. This was the last card I did. Adore those little birds. Triangle banner die makes short work out of cutting felt party hats. Make a Wish used here too. Both got put in the coveted "Favorites Shelf" in my craft room.

More Make a Wish. You can make your own size boxes to fit the bows. Numbers from Get to the Point give the sentiments a different visual spin.

Love Birds. A delight to work with. Heart Print dies make fun banners.

And I think that's it...how is that possible? Looking forward to next month for sure. I love the non holiday release months. Always such a surprise what we'll be working with.

Love Tags

I heart Valentine's Day. Just such a cheery palette to work with in the middle of dreary winter. Always gives me hope that spring is right around the corner. Looking forward to it even though it is two months away.

Today at Papertrey Ink, we're celebrating Valentine's Day (consider it a little like Christmas in July) by working with the fabulous new 2010 Love Tags. I was secretly wishing we'd get a 1.75" tag set this year. Wish granted! Definitely fills a hole in my collection.

I teamed up the scalloped heart from the set with the new Favor It 3 die on this little treat box for my niece June. The new Favor It box has slots to close up the top with ribbon. Which, in turn, allows for you to create a fun little window on the front. I used the new Fillable Frame #11 die to do so. Covered it over with some thick acetate from the stamp boxes PTI stamps come in. Those things have a million and one uses, let me tell ya.

Side note on candy. Now's the time to stock up on all the Christmas wrapped goodies. Separate the red covered ones and save for Valentine's Day and save the green and gold covered candies for St. Patty's Day! Easy peasy. Put them in the freezer to make sure they stay fresh...and out of your belly.  I really wish I could claim to be clever on this tip, but it was sprung from mere laziness. I had a bag of Christmas Rolos and didn't want to make a run to the grocery store. Made do with what I had. Lemonade out of lemons, let me tell ya.

Next up, I wanted to take the heart image and create something that didn't scream Valentine's Day. Instead, it screams "So Very 80's".  I would have loved this card as a little girl! I took the rainbow from Up, Up and Away and reversed masked the heart to hold it. Same goes for the Text Style. A little Copic'ing adds the right touch.

Look closely there on the black. That's the new Background Basics: Sheet Music embossed with clear powder. Just the right little bit of somethin' somethin'.

Hope my projects inspired you to get stamping. Stop by and see what the other girl's have been up to. I sneaked a peak in the gallery earlier. Up to their usual creative tricks, the lot of them.

Jessica Witty
Nichole Heady
Betsy Veldman
Dawn McVey
Debbie Olson
Heather Nichols
Lisa Johnson
Melissa Phillips
Michelle Wooderson
Niki Estes
Maile Belles


Supplies:
80's Birthday Girl

Stamps: 2010 Love Tags, Up, Up and Away, Background Basics: Text Style II, Make a Wish, Background Basics: Sheet Music
Dies: Clouds, Banner Borders
Cardstock: Kraft, True Black, Stamper's Select
Button: Pure Poppy
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Rustic Twine (colored with Copic)
Various Copic Markers
Patterned paper: Beautiful Blooms

Window Favor Valentine

Stamps: 2010 Love Tags, YOF: Roses
Ink: Pure Poppy and Dark Chocolate
Patterned paper: Warm Happiness II
Felt: Pure Poppy
Button: Raspberry Fizz
Dies: Small Scalloped Border, Heart Prints, Fillable Frame #11, Favor It 3
Other: Acetate cut from stamp boxes

Love Lives Here

Ooohhhhh ladies! You are going to so love the new Papertrey Ink Love Lives Here set and matching dies. Fun, unique, versatile. I'm digging how the dies take it to a new level for PTI with the punched out hearts. I found that they really revved up my creativity when I tried taking advantage of their unique characteristics. Let me show you what I mean....

First up, I made a set of homemade magnets to pretty up anybody's fridge. Or, alternatively, something like this would make a great gift for your work colleagues. Sure to bring a smile to anybody's face. I had some 1.75" circle Bazzill Chips (super thick chipboard...how perfect for all of PTI's 1.75" stuff) that I used as my jumping off point. Really helped to make the magnets sturdy. A little die cutting, a little stamping with Love Lives Here, a little layering....and a whole lotta Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (Ranger) made these things just about indestructable. Added bonus? Got some neat variegated effects from the UTEE that I wasn't anticipating, which was a nice surprise.

All for magnets are packaged in 1/2 of a CD tin. Save the other half for another set. Ribbon and the Mat Stack 2 die and stamp set got put to work.  The minute I saw that frame, I immediately knew I'd be filling in the scrolls with some white gel pen. A sentiment from Love Lives Here fits nicely inside.

Here's a more unobstructed view of all four magnets. Slick and shiny as glass. Need to bust out the UTEE more often. It's been way too long since I did that last.

And how about a card? I wanted to work the heart openings into my design by stringing a few on a line. Lovely and unique. There's the Mat Stack 2 stamp and die again. Makes pulling off a gorg card so very easy. This thing practically stamped itself.

Hope you enjoyed. All the other ladies are sure to have fabulous projects as well, so stop by their blogs. And be sure to check back at midnight of the 13th...there just might be another project or two going up. Thanks for stopping by.


Jessica Witty
Betsy Veldman
Dawn McVey
Debbie Olson
Heather Nichols
Lisa Johnson
Melissa Phillips
Michelle Wooderson
Niki Estes
Maile Belles

Supplies:

Magnets:

Stamps: Love Lives Here, Mat Stack 2 Collection, Daily Designs, Background Basics: Text Style II
Paper: Warm Happiness Two, Fine Linen, and Aqua Mist carstock
Ribbon: Fine Linen Saddle Stitched Ribbon
Ink: Dark Chocolate by PTI, Desert Sand by Close to My Heart
Dies: Limitless Layers, Love Lives Here, Mat Stack 2
Bazzill Chips and UTEE

Card:

Stamps: Love Lives Here, Text Style II, Mat Stack 2 Collection
Cardstock: Aqua Mist, Ocean Tides, Rustic Cream, Scarlet Jewel, Dark Chocolate
Distressed Dots Patterned Paper
Mat Stack 2 die, Love Lives Here Die
Ink: Ocean Tides, Ripe Avocado, Spring Moss, Dark Chocolate
Rustic Twine

Year of Flowers: Poinsettia

Hello everybody and Happy Papertrey Ink Release Week. I know it's Christmas and most people consider it the most wonderful time of the year. I've always thought of the 10th-15th of every month to be just like Christmas, only with the added advantage of coming around every thirty days. So release week in the middle of the actual Christmas season? Almost too much excitement for this little mama to handle.

I've been entrusted with sharing the next addition to the Year of Flowers series with you. There was no doubt in my mind it was going to be the lovely poinsettia. It's as synonymous with the month of December as Christmas trees and Santa Claus. Nichole did a beautiful job illustrating it for your stamping and coloring pleasure. Has definitely made me very merry as I've spent the last few days working with it.

I've got three cards for you today. First up is a flat stationary offering. I wanted to take the idea of a traditional card and mix it up a little bit. In this case, all the art work is on the envelope liner. A nice surprise for when the recipient opens up their message. For my note, I stamped a sentiment and Polka Dot Basics II in Summer Sunrise for a little interest. Perfect for a quick little note to somebody.

For my second project, I discovered that the Mat Stack 3 die can be transformed into the perfect pocket for a gift card. The poinsettia is colored in delicate shades of peachy blush. I love this color effect (R000, R01, R02) against Smokey Shadow cardstock. I added some adhesive silver accents to the flower center. Just something I feel constantly compelled to do when it comes to poinsettia images.

Lastly, I went out on a limb with the color combo. Red ink is stamped on the Shimmer Gold cardstock. It's really quite striking and modern in person. The new Fillable Frame #11 (can you believe we are almost at the end of these?) is filled with a sentiment from Inside/Out: Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed this holiday post. Be sure to check out Heather, Nichole, Dawn, and Melissa's projects tonight as well.

Supplies:


Flat Card:

Kraft A2 Envelopes
Polka Dot Basics II, For the Graduate, YOF: Poinsettia
Scarlett Jewel Copics
Scarlett Jewel and Summer Sunrise Ink
Envelope Liner die


Gift Card Pocket Card

Smokey Shadow and Stamper's Select Cardstock
2010 Holiday Days and YOF: Poinsettias
Copics
Linen Textured Vellum
Melon Berry Grosgrain Ribbon
Limitless Layers and Mat Stack 3 Dies


Tis The Season

Harvest Gold, Pure Poppy, Smokey Shadow, and Shimmer Gold Cardstock
True Black and Pure Poppy Inks
YOF: Poinsettia, Big&Bold Wishes, Fillable Frame #11, Inside/Out Christmas
True Black Vintage Buttons
Fillable Frame #11 die
Pure Poppy Grosgrain Ribbon