Congratulations - Boy Baby Shower

Hi and Happy Thursday! We are so close to Friday, which means a chance to catch my breath... We're heading out of town for the weekend just to relax as a family and I can't wait!  While we're away, I'll be missing a baby shower for a friend of mine at church.  She's having a boy, so I'll be sending this along for her:

This was one of those cards where I had all the pieces made, then tried a bunch of different layouts before deciding on one - I think it turned out ok :)

The stamp is from Stampin' Up's Flying Home set, colored up with my Copics.  The Sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Banner Style set.

The burlap/trim are from my stash - no 3D foam dots or sequins on this one, so I'm adding some depth with the thicker ribbons.

I'm happy with the way it all came together - Have a crafty day, friends!

About this Card:
Card Base - Papertrey Ink Classic Kraft
Patterned Paper - DCWV Watercolor 12x12 Stack
Bird Stamp - Stampin' Up Flying Home
Sentiment - Papertrey Ink Banner Style Stamp/die
Copics - E13, E15, E33, E35, BG10, BG13, BG15, YR21, YG63, YG67
Stitched Circle Dies, Ribbon, Trim

Cheering For You!

Hello from PA!  We have a second Nor'easter coming through our area over the next couple of days, which means we will be home bound for a day or two.  I hope some of that time can be spent making cards!  Meanwhile out in Indiana, a sweet friend of mine had bilateral hip replacement surgery yesterday, so she needs a MAJOR pick-me-up after that!  She and I have known each other since we were 11, when we became penpals through a sticker collecting club - it's a neat story.

Moving on, she was a cheerleader in high school and could use some cheering up herself right now, so I made this for her:

Let me tell you what a game-changer the Sizzix Framelits Triple Circle Flip-Its die is!  I've literally had this for over 2 years and never used it... I had these cute little pandas from Clearly Besotted and knew they needed to be showcased... they're a match made in my craft room!

The Die set includes lots of options for building up the 3 circles - I chose the fitted scallop circle with a slightly smaller dotted circle as my mat for each circle.  I used my Brother Scan N Cut to cut out my pandas since I don't have the dies, and I colored the little cuties with Copics.

 Of course I popped each panda out with a 3D foam dot!

 

 This card took me less than an hour from start to finish - these Sizzix dies are a GAME CHANGER!  The only thing I'm not crazy about was not having a great space to write in.  I put a mat on the back, but others may want to hide the writing part.

Wishing her a speedy recovery as we will be spending a week with her family in June and plan on doing lots of fun things together!  Hopefully everyone stays safe if you're in the weather pattern this week - stay warm and be crafty!!

About this Card:

Card Base: Neenah Solar White cardstock

Patterned Paper: Love by Nicole (ACMoore)

Card Base Die: Sizzix Framelits Die Set 10PK - Card, Triple Circle Flip-its

Stamps: Clearly Besotted Cheering For You

Copics: R81, R83, R85

With Sympathy

Good Afternoon Friends,

I've finally recovered from all of the challenge cards I made 2 weeks ago :)  I've been plugging along, I just haven't been real good about posting here.

I always seem to be caught off guard when it comes to sympathy cards - I don't like to have them pre-made, because I feel like a note expressing sorrow should have a personal touch of some kind.  I like to made these on an "as needed" occasion.

My friend's grandmother passed away last week, so I pulled together this card for her family:

I had a friend in a Facebook group ask if I would make her some die cuts of the Papertrey Ink Beautiful Berries: Spring set, so I stamped/cut out a few for practice.  This one came out nicely, so I used it as my top accent piece and tied a little twine around the stem.

I used white cardstock for the base and Papertrey Ink patterned paper.  The purple mat is cut from Papertrey Ink's Mix & Mat: Pretty Brackets Die (I LOVE these dies btw...)

I topped the mats with a simple 4" white doily (seriously got these in the baking aisle - Wilton brand) and stamped my sentiment.

 

And that's it! Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day!

About This Card:

Base - Neenah Solar White cardstock

Patterned Paper - Papertrey Ink

Die Cut Mat - Papertrey Ink - Mix & Mat Pretty Brackets

Doily - Wilton Baking Supplies

Die Cut - Papertrey Ink Beautiful Berries: Spring

Ink - Papertrey Ink New Leaf, Green Parakeet, Royal Velvet, Amethyst Allure

Sentiment - BoBunny

Papertrey Ink Color Challenge

Happy Valentine's Day!

While the world is busy turning RED today, I've been busy playing along with Papertrey's latest challenge - it's a color challenge!  We were given 9 different color combinations to choose from, so I chose this palate:

I had most of these ink colors, so I decided to do lots of stamping for my card:

This card was so easy - I loved using my Circle Scribbles Papertrey Ink stamp set to randomly stamp out the background, intentionally leaving some blank space for my sentiment.

You know me - if I'm not popping an element out on 3D foam squares, then I'm adding sequins!  I didn't want them to be too random, so I used like colored sequins on some of the stamped scribbles.

 My sentiment is the Thanks die from Papertrey - Big Basics: Thanks.

And I revisited an old favorite embellishment - STICKLES!  Just a touch on some of the letter tips.

I had a blast playing along with this month's challenges - I think there's at least one more, so come join us for some fun!

About this Card:
Card Base: Papertrey Ink Basic Black
Stamps: Papertrey Ink Circle Scribbles
Die: Papertrey Ink Big Basics: Thanks
Ink: Papertrey Ink Pure Poppy, Orange Zest, Harvest Gold, Green Parakeet, Hawaiian Shores & Amethyst Allure

Wish Big! Papertrey Ink's No-Stamp Challenge

Happy Fat Tuesday!

I haven't had my faschnaut yet today (if you don't know what one is, google it - yum!) but I had a lite lunch in expectation of having one or 2 tonight!!

Day 7 of Papertrey Ink's 11th Anniversary Party has challenged us to make a card using ONLY dies - NO stamps... So here we go:

In my mind, this project was just 'meh' for me... but once I got creating, some awesome things started coming together.  I am grateful that we had to think outside of stamps to bring our projects to life.  I've got lots going on here...

I used the recently-released Confetti Mix & Match die set by Papertrey - These are my new favorite dies for a quick go-to cut to establish depth on a card.  The 3-die-set produced the scalloped mat edge, the embossed crepe-paper-effect border, and the white confetti middle (I detached that die and cut out on a different color for more pop).

I embossed my card base with a pattern that helped pull some of those little confetti bits closer to the outside.

I then added some clear 'confetti' (sequins) to 2 opposite corners for some 3D 'popping'.  I wanted it to add emphasis to the angle of the sentiment, so I chose the 2 corners in that line of sight.

My sentiment is the Big Basics: Wish Big Die, also from Papertrey - I substituted black sequins for the 'i' dots.

The very top of my card didn't pick up the embossing, so I finished it off with a thin strip of black glitter washi tape - I love how it accents the color of the sentiment.

Have I inspired you?  Come play along - there's still time to enter for your chance at some big prizes!

About this Card:
Card Base: Papertrey Ink Raspberry Fizz
Embossing Folder: Darice
Mat Dies: Papertrey Ink Mix & Mat: Confetti
Sentiment: Papertrey Ink: Big Basics: Wish Big die
Sequins (clear & black), Washi Tape

Papertrey Ink - Retiring Sets Challenge

Hi Again!

I'm back with yest another challenge entry for Papertrey Ink's 11th Anniversary.  Papertrey just announced a TON of sets that they will be retiring in May (hint, hint - go grab them now!), and the challenge this day was to create a project using one of the retiring sets.  I thought I was so sad to see that the 'You're A Gem' set is retiring, BUT IT'S OK... Because I own it - PHEW!!  Here's what I put together using You're A Gem from Papertrey Ink:

I love the look of a card with a black base - everything from there just POPS!  I used the coordinating dies to make complementing diamonds, and found the PERFECT paper to use as a background - it's from DCWV's Razzle Dazzle 12x12 stack.

I added some glossy accents to the diamonds, and put a few sequins on the base for some extra sparkle!

There's still time to play along with a bunch of wonderful people from Papertrey - Come join us!

About this Card:
Card Base: Papertrey Ink True Black cardstock
Patterned Paper: DCWV Razzle Dazzle Stack
Stamps/Dies: Papertrey Ink You're A Gem
Sequins, Glossy Accents

Papertrey Ink - 11th Anniversary Challenges Continue - FLORALS!

Good Morning Everyone!

Thanks for stopping by :)  Today I am continuing to play along with the next challenge on Papertrey Ink's blog in celebration of their 11th Anniversary.  Today's post in my entry for their Floral Challenge - Pull out your favorite floral set and use it.  Here is the card I made over the weekend for this challenge:

I used Papertrey Ink's Stemmed Statements stamp/die set for this card - I chose the Poppy because poppies are one of my favorite flowers.  I fell in love with this set when it was released because I know the flowers would be beautiful when colored with Copics.

I matted the flower on 2 Nestabilities plates and embossed the top one with some simple dots.

The patterned paper is from DCWV's Watercolor Garden 12x12 stack - I love the foil highlights on it!

The stamp set gives you the flexibility of putting your choice of over 20 words on the small tag - I chose Celebrate today because I'm sending this card to a good friend for her birthday.

Thanks again for the visit - If you're looking for inspiration, the Papertrey Ink blog is a great place to start.  Have a great day!

About this Card:
Card Base - Papertrey Ink Pure Poppy
Patterned Paper - DCWV Watercolor Garden
Nestabilities - Labels 4
Cuttlebug - Embossing Folder Swiss Dots
Stamp/Die Set - Papertrey Ink Stemmed Statements
Copics - 100, Y38, Y35, G14, G16, G19, R35, R37, R39

Papertrey Ink - 11th Anniversary Party Projects

Good Morning Friends!

Hopefully the next few posts will inspire you, as I will be playing along with Papertrey Ink's 11th Anniversary party challenges.  Their Day 1 Challenge is a sketch challenge - We could pick 1 of 10 sketches from the design team to use as inspiration for our own project.  I needed to use at least 1 Papertrey Stamp/Die set as well.  I LOVE Dawn McVey's work at PTI, so I chose her sketch and came up with the following:

I found the pink woodgrain base paper in a DCWV stack called The All About Girls Stack.  I cut the lacy oval from a Spellbinders Nestabilities set, and used 2 Papertrey Ink sets for the rest - Gran's Garden for the flowers, and Direct Messages for the sentiment.

This was my first time using Gran's Garden - the stamp layers were really easy to line up, and since each flower is only 3 steps including the middle, it's easy to pick great color combinations for the bouquets.

The Direct Messages sentiments are PERFECT for when you need to squeeze some words into a tight space.

You can see the Gran's Garden stamps here, with an assembled picture below - I'll definitely be using this set again soon!  I also used an array of Papertrey inks for my stamping.

If you're craving some inspiration, hop on over to Papertrey's blog and play along with us!

Have a great & crafty weekend!

About This Card:
Card Base: DCWV stack called The All About Girls Stack
Nestabilities Scalloped Oval
Stamps/Dies - Papertrey Ink Gran's Garden
Sentiment - Papertrey Ink Direct Messages
Ink - Papertrey Ink New Leaf, Pale Peony, Hibiscus Burst, Berry Sorbet, Autumn Rose, Scarlet Jewel & Cocoa Bean

It's Monday, and I'm "Dragon"!

Good Morning Friends :)

It's Monday morning here in Southeastern PA, and in case you haven't heard, we won a football game last night that was kind of a HUGE deal!! As a lifelong Eagles fan, I'm going to ride this wave for a while.  I stayed up extra late watching the BIG episode of This Is Us, so today I'm 'dragon'!

Speaking of dragons, I wanted to share these cute ones with you:

I've had this stamp set for a while - Taylored Expressions Magical Day.  I used it to make cupcake toppers for my daughter's birthday last year, but this is the first card I've made with them - I think they're so cute!

I used patterned paper (DCWV - Watercolor) with some foil for some shine:

I had a blast coloring these little dragons with my Copics, pairing them with some clouds, and popping them out with foam dots:

I'm entering this card into Die Cuttin Divas Challenge #354 - Anything Goes - Make sure to stop by and see all the pretties that everyone is making over there!

I hope whoever gets this card has a Magical Day!!

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you have a magical day as well!

About this Card:
Card Base - Papertrey Ink Harvest Sunrise
Patterned Paper - DCWV Watercolor Stack
Stamps/Dies - Taylored Expressions Magical Day
Copics, Cloud Dies, Memento Ink Tuxedo Black, 3D Foam Dots

Spring Woods Sympathy

Happy Monday, Friends.

I was greeted at work this morning by the news that my boss had just lost his Father-In-Law.  I am close with him and his wife, so a handmade card (plus some baked goods) are definitely in order!  Keeping with my New Year's resolution to USE EVERYTHING I ALREADY OWN and cut back on buying, I hit my stash and found the perfect set that I fell in love with last year - Papertrey Ink's Spring Woods.  Here's how it turned out:

I love birds! This pretty gold finch is bright and peaceful, and I think he will deliver a warm message of sympathy to my friends.  I didn't want it to be too 'busy'... less is more with Sympathy cards, so I found this trio of ribbons to add something without being flashy:

 I love the look of the layered stitched circles:

And my trademark finishing touch (the mailman hates me) is popping something out with foam squares - in this case, my gold finch!

This set was so easy to use - the multiple layers were easy to line up with my MISTI - I am happy I decided to pull out this set and use it - Now I can't wait to use it again!

Thanks for  looking - Have a great week!

About this card:
Card Base: Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White
Patterned Paper: DCWV Fresh Floral Stack
Stamps: Bird & Branch - Papertrey Ink Spring Woods
Stamps: Sentiment - Papertrey Ink Comfort Food
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black & Dandelion; Papertrey Ink New Leaf, 
Cocoa Bean & Summer Sunrise
Stitched Circle Dies, Ribbons, MISTI, 3D Foam Squares

Houston, We Have Cuteness!

Hello Crafty Friends!

Today I'm sharing with you, my first ever entry into a "My Favorite Things" weekly challenge.  This week's sketch challenge was to create my own take on this sketch:

I have quite a few "My Favorite Things" stamp sets that I haven't used yet, so I cracked open my BB Space Explorer set and got to work!

Isn't he cute?? I needed a card for a special boy, who is not a relative, for Valentine's day and this card will be perfect for him!  I colored our little astronaut with my Copics, trying to pull in the aqua color from the patterned paper I chose.  I also included a sheet of acetate for a window effect:

I found the most amazing 12x12 pad of patterned paper on the Hot Buy rack at Michael's recently - it's made by "Craft Smith" and the pad name was "AURORA" - lots of space and gem patterns, which were just PERFECT for this card.

For a little extra dimension, I popped my sentiment out with foam squares:

While still not perfect, I'm happy to see improvement with my coloring... practice is definitely essential with Copics!

I had a lot of fun getting creative with this sketch - I hope to do more in the near future.  Any time I can get a creative boost with a sketch or a color combo, it helps me get started.  If you want to play along, the challenge can be found here.  You have till Tuesday 1/30/18 at Noon EST to enter your card.

Have a great week - Make something BEAUTIFUL!

About this Card:

Card Base: Papertrey Ink Cardstock in "Pure Black"

Patterned Paper: Craft Smith "Aurora" pad (Michael's)

Stamps: My Favorite Things "BB Space Explorer"

Copics: E00, E31, Y00, Y02, Y06, BG10, BG13, BG15, BG18, C1

Stitched Circle Dies, Acetate Sheet, Sequin Stars, Adhesive Foam Squares