Sunday, March 25, 2012

Papertrey Ink March Blog Hop - attempt #6

Ok, last one ... I think.  :)  Had all my supplies out so thought I would make one more.  I realized I had some nice yellow paper in my Bazzil swiss patterned pad of 12x12 paper.  I got it on sale at Michaels on clearance ... $8 for the whole pad of a whole bunch of different colours!  Gotta love deals like that!!!

Anyhoo, here is the card:
 I took some die cuts from the gorgeous Rosie Posie set.  Yum!
 The sentiment is from last year's anniversary set, Botanical Silhouettes.
The die cuts are up on foam dots for a little dimension.  I kept this one simple - no leaves or anything.

Supplies:
Paper: PTI hawaiian shores, Bazzill swiss dots
Stamps: PTI Rosie Posie, Botanical Silhouettes (sentiment)
Ink: Jenni Bowlin soap powder, fountain pen
Misc: PTI Rosie Posie dies,  foam dots

Papertrey Ink March Blog Hop - attempt #5


This one is mostly white space but I still used the colour combo.  I am really starting to like it!
I took some of my hoarded twine from a sampler pack and cut a notch in the card's spine to feed it through.  Great tip learned from the talented Kristina Werner.
I used the Woodgrain impression plate on the die cut label for some dimension along with the omnipresent foam dots. :)

Supplies:
Paper: Staples 110lb white, PTI lemon tart
Ink: Jenni Bowlin speckled egg
Stamps: BB Circles, Harvest Berries (sentiment)
Misc: turquoise and yellow twine from sampler pack, PTI woodgrain impression plate, PTI Happy Days die, foam dots

Papertrey Ink March Blog Hop - attempt #4

Ok, next on the blog hop posts was this simple card with some die cuts from one of my favourite Papertrey Sets - harvest berries.  I just love the gingko leaves ... absolutely gorgeous!
I cut out some leaves from lemon tart card and then stamped them with Jenni Bowlin malted milk ink - a nice subtle shade.
The sentiment is a great combinatin of two fonts - great style in the Happy Trails set!  I popped up the turquoise panel with some foam dots.

Supplies:
Paper: Staples 110lb white;  PTI lemon tart, hawaiian shores 
Stamps: PTI Happy Trails (sentiment), Harvest Berries
Ink: Jenni Bowlin malted milk, fountain pen
Misc: foam dots, PTI Harvest Berries dies

Papertrey Ink March Blog Hop - attempt #3

A little card for my adorable nephew, Xavier!  My pet peeve is bad punctuation so the fact that there is no comma bugs me but I will deal with it ... :-P
 A background of BB Newsprint, some glimmer mist and then the die cuts of letters over top.
Hard to see the shimmer but it's really quite pretty ...  I promise, it's really there!

I used some really ugly patterned paper from my stash that I couldn't bear to throw out ... I die cut the letters on the mostly yellow part and now I have used it up without getting the ugly flowers in there too much ...
The turquoise layer is popped up with foam dots for a bit of dimension.

Supplies:
Paper: Staples 110lb white, PTI hawaiian shores, yellow patterned paper from stash
Stamps: PTI BB: Newsprint
Ink: Jenni Bowlin ink - weather vane
Misc: PTI Alpah dies, Tombo Mono Multi glue, foam dots

Papertrey Ink March Blog Hop - attempt #2

 Another card with the teal and yellow combo!  I saw someone stamp the solid image from Pretty Peonies and then the outlined image and not line them up ... loved the look so I thought I'd try it out.
I am trying to get into stamping cards in mind for someone ... I do do that when I need to but sometimes just stamp away not knowing who I will give it to.  This one is for a friend going through a tough time.  I am trying to send a card a week to keep her spirits up.
 Love those journal tabs - I am trying to incorporate them into my cards more often ...

Supplies:
Paper: Staples 110lb white, PTI Hawaiian shores -
Stamps: PTI Pretty Peonies
Misc: PTI Journal tabs dies

Papertrey Ink March Blog Hop - attempt #1

What a springy colour combo!  I would've never made cards with these colours but I'm really liking it!

I have a friend who has been under the weather so thought this card would be perfect.
I did quite a bit of layering of stamping even though it might be a bit hard to see.  I stamped the Hero Arts Alphabet pattern cling stamp with soft stone shadow ink and then spritzed the stamp with glimmer mist before stamping it.  Very subtle and pale but visible in real lie.  

 I used my Fresh Ink in steel blue over top with some of the Embellishment flourishes from Papertrey.
A more washed out photo ... I have never been good at photographing my cards ... apologies!
On another note, the Photo Finisher dies are great with many sentiments ... found this one that was perfect from Asian Fusion.  I made clear die cuts of each of these from the Photo Finisher set to check to see what sentiment would work well from my sentiment index.  It works really well!
One of the newest stamps in my aresenal - Hero Arts Alphabet pattern cling stamp.  I was so excited to receive it last week.  I love background stamps that cover a whole card front - they are so useful and versatile! I can't wait to try it with the velveteen technique and embossing ...  ooh, the possibilities! :)

Supplies: 
Paper: Staples 110lb white, PTI lemon tart and hawaiian shores
Stamps: Hero Arts Alphabet pattern cling stamp; PTI: Asian Fusion sentiment, Embellishments
Inks: Hero Arts pool shadow ink, Jenni Bowlin fountain pen, Fresh Ink steel blue
Misc: Tattered Angels glimmer mist, PTI photo finishers die

Papertrey Ink - Make it Monday - graduated backgrounds

Another week, another Make it Monday technique to be learned from Papertrey Ink.  This week was graduated backgrounds.  I don't have copics or reinkers - gasp, I know!  So I used Derkwent Inktense watercolour pencils and some of my homemade Perfect Pearls shimmery mist to mix the colours.  This added a shimmer to the graduated background.  Yum!  I took a piece of Strathmore watercolour paper and went to town.  I am also entering these cards into the CYDI Over the Rainbow challenge, CropStop's Rainbow of Colors challenge and Paper Crafts rainbow challenge, .

Here are my creations:
 A little rock and roll technique on the butterflies.  Those Jenni Bowlin inks work great with this technique!

Next card uses my new Hero Arts Studio Calico grid pattern background stamp.  Love those backgrounds!!  This one is subtle but beautiful:
Isn't it gorgeous??  I used it as the background with a light green ink from Jenni Bowlin.  I layered a die cut from the watercoloured sheet and adhered it with Tombo Mono Multi glue.  This stuff works so well with intricate die cuts because of its fine nozzle.  Pick some up if you haven't got it yet - I promise you won't regret it!
 Selectively inking the 'Easter' portion of the sentiment completes this simple card.

I used a marker to make it seem like the sentiment was stamped OVER the die cut and make it look a bit more cohesive.
***
Ok, next card ... more watercoloured paper to use up! :)  I took a Happy Days die cut from the paper and then stamped it with a sentiment from Everyday Button Bits.
I used some foam dots and then impressed the green cardstock with the Quatrefoil cover plate.  It looks so good embossed!

Unfortunately, even the close up does not show the shimmer ... but trust me, it;s there! :)


Supplies:
You color my world
Paper: Staples 110lb white, Strathmore watercolour paper
Stamps: PTI Happy Trails
Ink: Jenni Bowlin ink
Misc: PTI heart border die, Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils, Perfect Pearls perfect pearl powder mixed with water in mini mister, paintbrush



Happy Easter
Paper: Strathmore watercolour paper, Staples 110lb white
Stamps: PTI Mega Mixed Messages (Easter - selectively inked), Hero Arts Studio Calico grid pattern
Inks: Jenni Bowlin ink
Misc: PTI Wonderful Words die, Tombo Mono Multi glue, Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils, Perfect Pearls perfect pearl powder mixed with water in mini mister, paintbrush


Hey there, chickadee
Paper:  Staples 110lb white, Strathmore watercolour paper, Gina K green
Stamps:  PTI Everyday Button Bits
Ink: Jenni Bowlin ink
Misc:  foam dots, Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils, Perfect Pearls perfect pearl powder mixed with water in mini mister, paintbrush

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Blog Hop for Janelle

This card is for Janelle to send her a little love.  Hopefully this will bring her some sunshine and smiles to her face.  If you don't know Janelle and her story, you can find her blog HERE!  Some lovely ladies organized a blog hop for her here so check out the other creations here.
I was inspired by a card I saw and searched in vain to link up.  I thought I had pinned it to my Pinterest board but apparently that is not the case ...  It had coloured inks stamped on kraft and looked GORGEOUS!!  Edited to add - just found the inspiration picture from the fabulous post on Paperella's blog.  Thank you for your idea!!  So I used that same idea and made my own card.  I used my Fresh Inks to stamp the butterflies and Jenni Bowlin fountain pen ink (black) for the sentiment.
The pigment inks look so beautiful on the textured kraft paper.  I got the paper from an office supply store in the sale section and love it.  It's not thick but the texture is really nice.
Janelle, know that we are all thinking of you and sending you hugs. <3  I sent you a card last week that should get there soon, hopefully.

Supplies:
Paper: Staples 110lb white, Meadowcroft Textured paper (toast)
Stamps: PTI Pretty Peonies, Think Big Favourites (sentiment selectively inked)
Ink: Fresh Inks (red currant, silver lilac, steel blue, pear, slate, provincial gray), Jenni Bowlin fountain pen

Sunday, March 18, 2012

An organizational post ...

Stamp index
I already have a sentiment index that I blogged about here but decided it would be nice to have an index of all of my stamp sets to use with my die/punch index.  I stamped all of my sets onto 80lb card stock that I cut down to 8 1/2 x 5 1/2.  I used a dye ink for easy clean up.  I wrote the name of each set in the bottom right corner and used Martha Stewart plastic dividers.
I bought a gorgeous red shagreen binder from Staples (also Martha Stewart).  It's a mini binder that is 8 1/2 by 5 1/2 and I love the small compact size.
It is easy to flip through and be inspired by the images or sentiments.
Martha Stewart organization products here

Stamp Organization
I use almost exclusively clear stamps and wanted an inexpensive way to organize them.  They usually come on an acetate sheet so decided to make a clear envelope to put the sets in.  I cut acetate (transparency film) with my paper cutter (9" x 7") and then folded it in half and scoring it well.  I used a mini stapler to adhere the sides.
If I bought the set second hand, I have stamped my own image sheet.
If the set is from another company, like Hero Arts, I just kept the cardboard backing and put that in my acetate folder:
 If the set is new, I used the label that came with the set in front of the set, still on the acetate sheet:
I used Post It's tabs to label each set.  Makes it super easy to find a set I am looking for.
 I took larger sized heavy card stock and PTI's journal tabs to separate the categories.
 Here is one of the boxes that I put the sets in and you can clearly see the tabs:
My larger box has stamp sets and my embossing folders at the back.