Iconic Images

Happy Stamp-A-Faire Day! Today the design team is featuring the exclusive Iconic Images set that is available today at the event or online with a purchase of $100 or more. Sweet deal. I know some of you have been planning your cart for weeks! Happy shopping everybody.

I teamed up the silhouette image and some of the medallions with a frame from Mat Stack 2 and a sentiment from Think Big Favorites #2. Plum Pudding and Lavender Moon ink make an interesting backdrop. A Fine Linen Satin Ribbon bow keeps it elegant and feminine.

Hope everybody is having a lovely day. I'm off to a little PTI get together with some friends. The stamping spirit is alive and well today!

July Papertrey

....let's post these before the month gets away from me.

Peaceful Garden. I was sitting in a dark movie theater watching Cars 2 with Hank when inspiration struck. Mater and Lightening McQueen where in Japan and in the background of one of the scenes was bamboo against a circle. Eureka! You just never know when inspiration will strike.

Friendship Jar Summer Fillers and Little Labels. Remember that movie (speaking of movies) with Diane Keaton. Baby Boom? Didn't she start a cottage business making organic, gourmet baby food and packaging them up in mason jars? That little memory was all it took on this card.

Tag-its #6. Just playing around with die cut layers. So many possiblities.

Hanging Out with little soccer jerseys. Getting a little help from Have a Ball.

Sweet As Can Be. So love this set. Used Half & Half to make an interactive card.

Why have one scoop for your birthday when you can have a gazillion? Notice how the sentiment seems to flow between the two layers too.

Congrats All Ways. Playing with die cutting those Half & Half dies and the different ways you can use the stamps. The two symmetrical birds from Happy Trails reinforce the theme.

Background Basics: Vine. Some tricky stamping here with masking/selective inking. But I had a vision and had to see it through. Sometimes I wish such inspiration would dislodge itself a little more easily from my brain. But no, like a dog on a bone some days.

Thanks for stopping by and all the nice comments you've left over the last few weeks. :)

A Little Sass For Your Thursday

Paper piecing plus Copic coloring is working well for me lately. I think the former can be too tedious when done on intricate images and on the later, I still need practice for larger areas. Neither individually is doing it for me. But together? Love the results. Will keep the idea in my back pocket to pull out as needed. 

A little sassiness for you today. I recently found There She Goes Clear Stamps and treated myself. I find several of them to be irreverent enough for a laugh. As as much as I would love to take this lady's attitude toward the housework, I need to keep things short...I've got four loads of laundry to fold. Reality is a bit different than stamping sentiments, no?

Supplies

Stamps: Domestic Goddess by There She Goes Clear Stamps, Homemade by Papertrey Ink

Paper: My Mind's Eye Stella and Rose 6x6 pad

Copics

Medium Scallop Border die by Papertrey Ink

Bikes...Again

Why is it that as soon as I finish a set of thank you cards, I need more? Every time!

I am really bad at tying ribbon bows. But pretty good at tying baker's twine and floss ones. I think it just might be time to throw in the towel and embrace this about myself. Off to Joann's I go to get an assortment. 

I took my cruiser bike to the grocery store this morning at 7:30 to buy eggs for breakfast and corn starch for making homemade marshmallows (s'mores after dinner/swimming at lake tonight). I say I started out the day right. Hope you did too.

Supplies

Stamps: Background Basics: Chevron and Tiny Tags
Tiny Tags Die
Ink: Enchanted Evening, Smokey Shadow, and Pure Poppy
Die cut: Silhouette

More Strawberries

Nothing like beating a dead horse, aye? I think it's just summer time and all the berry smoothies I've been eating. Making me feel berry good, I guess.

I had made a Friendship Jar: Summer Fillers card for the release, but wasn't happy with it so I didn't use it. But my little jar was colored so nicely, that it would have been a waste to scrap it all. So I just ripped it off the one card and made another. I'm liking this one just fine.

There are those Half & Half dies and stamps again. I love love love off-setting the stamp on the die to leave that white edge.

Hope you all are having a nice day! Go buy some strawberries and eat a bowl with some Cool Whip. YUM.

Supplies:

Stamps: Friendship Jar: Summer Fillers, Friendship Jar, Half & Half, Mega Mixed Messages
Dies: Pint Jar, Friendship Jar, Jar Toppers, Tiny Tags, Parisian Doily
Buttons: Simply Chartreuse
Cardstock: Soft Blush, Aqua Mist
Ink: Pure Poppy, Ripe Avocado

Fresh Ink

With all the of the little $5 Boy Basics sets from PTI in April, I didn't get the chance to ink up them all. As a design team, we each picked the one we wanted to work with, leaving the majority of the others untouched...unloved...begging for a little play time. With a friend's 10 year old boy's birthday on the horizon, I was giddy to be able to ink up Boy Basics: Game On. Perfect, perfect, perfect. On of my favorite things about card making is personalizing the cards so much to the recipient. This was no exception.

I die cut the white mat/grid on my Silhouette. It's modified from this cut. Amazing what you can do with the software and machine, isn't it? I made sure I saved the file so I can use it again. It's a winning design for boys. Why reinvent the wheel every time I need a new card?

I popped it up on dimensional adhesive and placed squares in Pure Poppy and Smokey Shadow on the card front for extra dimension.

Now, the ironic thing is, after making this video game card, I bought the kid a book. I'm really such a kill joy. But really, shouldn't a boy rather build a tree house than play video games? He just needs a nudge in the right direction.

Supplies

Stamps: Boy Basics: Game On, Background Basics: Geometrics, Big Birthday Wishes
Dies: Limitless Layers
Ink: Pure Poppy, Smokey Shadow, CTMH Crystal Blue
Cardstock: Soft Stone, Pure Poppy, Smokey Shadow

Tranquility Trilogy

The last day of the July countdown! It's been a great ride and I hope to tempt you one more time with another project featuring the new Favor It #4 Box. Triangle is the word of the day (I watch a lot of Sesame Street) and as such, this little box is in a pyramid shape. It's the first one of the Favor It boxes where the contents are completely boxed up. Which got me thinking...

...have you ever heard of a Baby Gender Surprise Party? Sort of a new thing. I've heard two variations. First, the parents-to-be know the gender of their baby and bake a bunch of cupcakes, dropping an appropriate color gumball in each cupcake. The guests must bite into the cupcake to find out if it is a girl or a boy. And second, the secret is hidden from the parents as well. Mom and Dad take a sealed envelope with the new baby's gender (written by the ultrasound tech) to a bakery. The bakery bakes either a pink or blue cake and then covers it with white frosting. Mom and Dad have everybody over and cut the cake to see what they are having. Fun, no? I'm considering doing some variation of this with my next pregnancy (which...THANK GOD...is still in the future!).

So, I decided to use these little pyramid boxes to create a version of a gender reveal. Nice neutral colors of Spring Moss and Lemon Tart. I used the new triangle dies to cut out accents which are stamped with Background Basics: Gingham. Pull out an old fave ( Bitty Baby Blessings) to help baby it up a bit more.

What's inside? Well...this fictional baby is a GIRL! Pink M&M's let the cat out of the bag. Or you could go blue. You can buy single color M&M's at Michael's or a candy store. I got mine at Wegman's. Or, just buy a bag and eat all the colors that don't apply. Not a bad idea:).

Now, the new Favor It box is a sweet little number to assemble. You only need to adhere it at two points, so they come together quick. And it seals up tight. I wanted to stick little flags at the top and in order to have somewhere to anchor them, I had to snip off the little bitty tip of the box with scissors. Very easy. A dab of hot glue keeps it all in place.

So, what other sorts of secrets can you reveal? And what else can you fit in the box? Lots of things. I'll leave you with one more idea--newborn pacifiers are a nice fit. Happy showering!

Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to swing by the blogs of my esteemed colleagues to see what they have up their sleeves. I'll be back in a few days with all my July projects.

Nichole Heady
Jessica Witty
Betsy Veldman
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Lisa Johnson
Melissa Phillips
Michelle Wooderson
Maile Belles
Danielle Flanders


Supplies:
Stamps: Background Basics: Gingham, Bitty Baby Basics, Limitless Labels
Cardstock: Spring Moss, Stamper's Select White, Lemon Tart
Dies: Favor It Box #4, Triangles, Ad Sense, Double Ended Banners
Ink: Ripe Avocado and Lemon Tart

Half & Half

It's group post night for PTI's July Release and we got a hot little number to show you. SO. VERY. VERSATILE. I'm not saying you have to turn your back to all your Mat Stacks or anything, but the time has come to make a little room next to them on your stamping shelf for Half & Half.  It's must have basic. You are so going to love it.

Now, I usually have a whole stack of stamp sets I'm working with when I create a card. It's just how I do things. But this time out, I really didn't have to use much more than Half & Half to create some sleek and stylish projects. And you know, I have projects left to create this week. Might need to keep using Half & Half now that I think about it. Sort of on a roll.

For my first project, I used two die cut Half & Half pieces to create a band around my card. Notice how I stamped the pin-stripe image back off the edge, leaving a solid bracket. Really like the way this looks. Limitless Layers 2.75" and 1.75" along with Edgers #1 (hey...I never said I wasn't touching my treasure trove of dies!) helped me create some interest. I used Heather's new Tag-its #6 and a great stacked quote (MORE! MORE! MORE! of these please!) for my focal point. Can you say done in less that ten minutes?

And here's another quick card. I was monkeying around last night trying to come up with something elaborate for my second project. Wasted some time, mindlessly watched Desperate Housewives on my iPad while standing at my work table. And then it hit me...I didn't need to focus on the decorate edge side of the Half & Half stamps...why not use the square side. BAM! Project was done in ten minutes again and I'm thrilled with the result. Very clean, very masculine.

I did add in some cardstock brackets. Let me show you how I created them with the one die.

First you cut a standard shape. Then you move your die down the original shape and cut again.

Viola! Brackets! Just adhere your projects.

I hope you have some ideas on how to make some quick and easy cards using this stamp/die set. It's really a lot of fun and I can see myself using it for a looooooooooooong time. Be sure to stop by and see what the other girls are up to tonight. I'm preparing myself to be blown away.

a href="http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/">Nichole Heady
Jessica Witty
Betsy Veldman
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Lisa Johnson
Melissa Phillips
Michelle Wooderson
Maile Belles
Danielle Flanders

Supplies:


True Friends Card
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Kraft, New Leaf, Enchanted Evening
PTI Ink: Enchanted Evening
Stamps: Half & Half, Tag-its #6
Dies: Half & Half, Limitless Layers 2.5" and 1.75"
Diamond Impression Plate
Blueberry Sky Vintage Buttons


Special Day Card
Cardstock: Aqua Mist and Stamper's Select White
Stamps and dies: Half & Half
Ink: True Black
Buttons: Pure Poppy

Papertrey Ink's Think Big Favorites and Floral Fusion #6

Welcome back everybody! I'm enjoying taking part in the countdowns over the last few months and July is no exception. Today, I have some fun cards featuring Think Big Favorites #6 and Floral Fusion #6 (officially speaking) and have some good doses of Hanging Out and Background Basics: Vines thrown in as well, because I just couldn't help myself. Have you ever noticed that whatever you have cluttering your desk always seems to be the exact thing you need? If you can find it, that is:).  Well, those two extra stamp sets were in a stack and they got called in to join up with my official assignment. Hope you don't mind....I'm thinking you really don't:).

As I've probably mentioned before, when trying to use a stamp set in an unique way, it is best to capitalize on the defining characteristics of any given image. The Think Big Favorites #6 (larger size sentiments from the beautiful Autumn Abundance) have this great horizontal line going  through them. So, I asked myself, what can we do with that which would be considered unique? That's really all it took to come up with some fun ideas.

For example, the line can be joined up with the line in Maile's new Background Basics: Vines. The background set is one that can be layered on top of each other, instead of fitting together like a puzzle piece (make sense?...think Polka Dot Basics), so you can get this strong vertical line as well. So easy.

I stamped the flower center from Floral Fusion #6 in the open leaves for some contrast and then broke up all the linearity with a happily tilted flower.

Next up...and you can see this one coming a mile away...use the line in the sentiments as your flower stem. I just masked off the one side of the leaves, so you just have the one. Love the plaid!

Neon color is pretty hot right now.  A Hibiscus Burst felt flower (cut from the Floral Fusion #6 die) and buttons liven up the Harvest Gold and Soft Stone card.

And lastly...I'm most excited about this one...the line in Think Big Favorites #6 is the exact same width of the clothesline from Hanging Out. I'm almost certain it wasn't planned that way, but goodness, is it not a happy discovery?  Even happier discovery? Finding other things in my stamp collection that can fit on that clothes line. Sign Language is going to start getting busted out a lot over here.

Below the Think Big Favorites #6 sentiment, I stamped a little saying from Inside/Out: Thank You. Helps fill the card front. And the sides get some color and homespun charm from Background Basics: Gingham.

Now...I thought this whole clothesline/sentiment thing was a good idea, so I made another card with the same design, but with a different theme. Quilt blocks from the original Quilter's Sampler match up with the love and care that is sent with a Get Well card.

I hope I've sparked your interest and creativity with some of the new stamp sets. Lots of fun to play with. Be sure to blog hop on over to the other girls and see their new projects today. We've got fun from Nichole, Heather, Maile, Lisa, and Melissa Bickford. Just thinkin' about it, gets me warmed up to stamp. Good thing...still have projects left to create! See you back in a few days with some more stuff from me.

Supplies:

Blue/Green Feel Better Card
Vintage Cream, Ripe Avocado, and Spring Rain Cardstock
Ripe Avocade and Enchanted Evening Ink
Think Big Favorites #6, Floral Fusion #6, Background Basics: Vines stamps
Floral Fusion #6 and Beautiful Blooms die
Ripe Avocado Button

Neon Thanks Card
Soft Stone Cardstock
Smokey Shadow and Hibiscus Burst Ink
Think Big Favorites #6, Background Basics: Vines, Floral Fusion #6, Tag-its #6 stamps
Floral Fusion #6 and Doily Details Dies
Hibiscus Burst and Harvest Gold Buttons

Thanks Clothesline Card
Stamper's Select White, Summer Sunrise, Pure Poppy, and Hawaiian Shores Cardstock
True Black and Spring Moss Ink
Think Big Favorites #6, Background Basics: Gingham, Hanging Out, Sign Language, and Inside/Out: Thank You stamp sets
Other : Ocean ink from CTMH


Feel Better Clothesline Card
Vintage Cream Cardstock
Smokey Shadow and Ocean Tides Ink
Think Big Favorites #6, Hanging Out, Background Basics: Gingham, Quilter's Sampler, Healing Touch Sentiments
Copic Markers

Sweet Thank Yous

My Lil' Strawberry needed some thank you notes for her birthday presents. And being the slightly deranged, everthing needs to match type, I busted out my strawberry stamps from Green Thumb (this, Butterfly Kisses, and Little Lady were my very first PTI purchases). I had originally intended to use Fruit Fusion: Berry, having gone so far as to cut and stamp several of them in preparation, but I felt the smaller size berries worked better to create the strawberry patch feel I wanted with Turning a New Leaf.

 I've recently made an ink reference for all the ink pads I own by stamping the same stamp in all the different colors. A lot of you have probably done this a long time ago. I'm glad I finally took the time. Otherwise, I would never had known I had the most perfect shade of light pink (CTMH Vanilla Cream) to use as my background. It's so light, I could stamp over it  (love this stamp!) and not have it show through my other inks. Think Big Favorites #4 is used on the inside.

Could have probably lined the sentiment up better so it was completely in the white space, but I decided to add the lower spring of berries after I had already stamped it. Ah well, live and learn! 

Got some crazy mojo going with release projects. Fun times. Can't wait to show you!

Oh La La!

I partake in the occasional bodice ripper romance novel. More like I have streaks where I devour (must use proper romance novel language...cover thy virgin ears if you've got 'em) about six of them before putting them aside for long stretches, in favor of more serious fare. I happen to be in the throes of one such binge. It's happy reading for me. Potato chip reading. And if you hit upon a good author, very funny reading as well.

My girlfriend is in need of a good read. So I'm going to help her out. Give her something pretty saucy for the hot summer nights. (Weather people...the humidity is a killer here in MD.) Thought it might be fun to throw in a sexy bookmark as well for a laugh. Although sexy is not usually a descriptive word I would use for such an item. But it sure is fun trying to come up with something that qualifies. Just happen to have some new Unity Stamps that need inking up. They have, with this one project, completely justified the purchase. SO. MUCH. FUN.

Now bookmarks...you see both sides of them, so decorate both sides. Just an additional excuse for stamping.

Things I learned with this project (because I always learn something):

1. Copic Markers R000, R01, and R02 are just lovely.
2. Use Copics to color vellum border and silk ribbon.
3. When stitching a double sided item, stitch two of the same thing and then adhere together sandwich style with adhesive. The stitching on the back looks a little shoddy.
4. Double sided bookmarks are the way to go.
5. Lingerie stamps are fun.
6. On the fence whether or not I like the tri-dot accents. 

Book-wise...if you are a lover of the bodice ripper like me..Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series. Yes, another thing about romances that I LOVE is the stories come in serial. Makes the fun last longer. First on is The Duke and I.  Lives up to all those good reviews on Amazon. A gold standard. If only they were all so good.

Supplies:

Stamps: Unity Stamps (lingerie), PTI All Booked Up and Out of this World (little tri-dot accent).
Dies: Bookmark and Tea for Two Label
Vellum and Silk Ribbon from PTI
Melon Berry Cardstock
Martha Stewart border punch (cut down the middle so I could have trim on both sides)