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