Make it Monday Challenge take 3

Attempt no. 3 for a 'go-to sentiment' card inspired by Erin Lincoln's video for PTI which you can find here.


I think this is my favourite. It was a bit painstaking to cut out those outline alphabets, but oh so worth it :) I had the fan on and it blew the 'b' off my desk, I was about to give up searching for it and do another one when I finally found it. Phew!

Supplies
Stamps: Papertrey Ink Outline Alphabet, Mega Mixed Messages, Blooming Button bits, Everyday Button bits, Fillable Frames #5
Card: Crate Paper Snow Day collection, Echo Park summertime collection, PTI cardstock sweet blush, summer sunrise, aqua mist, simply chartreuse
Ink: Versafine black, versamark
Other: PTI Beautiful Blooms dies, simply chartreuse felt, white embossing powder, buttons, white embroidery thread.

PTI Button Challenge

Oh dear. Yet another set of delicious PTI dies for my wishlist. Those buttons are adorable and I just want to create lots :)

So here is my button card for the challenge- the button bits stamps series are one of my favourites, they are so much fun!


This card is all about super simplicity and lots of empty space- I want the focus to be on the sweet buttons. Perfect for the one yr old birthday party we are going to tomorrow.

Supplies
Stamps: Papertrey Ink Blooming Button Bits, Tea for Two Additions
Card: PTI spring moss
Ink: PTI ripe avocado, versamark
other: white embossing powder, white thread, sewing machine.

Make it Monday Challenge take 2

What an inspirational first video from Erin Lincoln. You can watch it here. I really enjoyed this second attempt at a 'go to sentiment' card b/c the design just kinda struck me while I was working on a different idea. Love that.


I'm always trying to build up more masculine cards in my stash, and I really like how this one is fun enough for a kid, but the sentiment is stylish enough for an adult- versatility rocks!

Supplies
Stamps: Papertrey Ink Outline Alphabet, Wreath for All Seasons, Mega Mixed Messages
Card: PTI Summer Sunrise, Ripe Avocado; Cosmo Cricket togetherness mini deck
Ink: Versafine onyx black
Other: PTI terracotta tile felt, various buttons

PTI Colour Challenge

I often get stuck in a colour rut and go back to my tried and true combos, which is great for a last minute card, but sometimes trying something new is a great mojo kickstart. So I was excited to try this colour combo as suggested by Jessica Witty


And here is my take on it


Keep those Colour Combo downloads coming, PTI!

Supplies
Stamps: Papertrey Ink In Bloom, Blooming Button Bits
Card: PTI aqua mist, summer sunrise, rustic white
Ink: Hero Arts shadow ink soft pool, soft sand
Other: PTI rustic twine, buttons

Great to get stamping again

How did I get this far into 2011 without doing any papercraft? I blame the seductive powers of yarn and a brand shiny new hobby. I was definitely in need of some inspiration and motivation...

The Papertrey Ink anniversary celebrations are just what I needed- especially the very first Make It Monday video from PTI. I really like the mix & match sentiment idea (I'm a font junkie) so jumped at the chance to get out the stamps. My first attempt is the perfect birthday card for a girl who likes her bling!


I don't have any larger sentiments that would work well as the focal point, so created my own using the outline alphabet set. LOVE that alphabet. Had some more ideas while I was doing this one, so I'll be back with more soon!

Supplies
Stamps: All Papertrey Ink- Outline Alphabet, Wreath for All Seasons, Round & Round, Mega Mixed Messages
Cardstock: PTI plum pudding
Ink: PTI snowy white pigment ink, versamark
Other: Signo silver gel pen, double sided tape, Prisma glitter, silver embossing powder, rhinestone.

It is that time of year....GIVEAWAY!

Change is in the air over here, and as Christmas is also upon us I think that calls for a giveaway :) It is kinda my way of saying Merry Christmas to those of you who pop by regularly and also high time I spread the love around.

So, here are the giveaway rules- just leave a comment on this post (one per person please) and a winner will be randomly picked next Thursday. AUSTRALIAN RESIDENTS ONLY. The contents of the package will be a surprise...but there will definitely be stamping goodies in there. Make sure there is a way I can contact you- either through a blog link or email address. Good luck!

Supplies
Stamps: Papertrey Ink A Wreath For all Seasons
Ink: Versamark, Distress Ink fired brick, antique paper
Other: Platinum stickles, American Crafts zing embossing powder leaf.

A card, just because...

It was pretty exciting cracking open my Crate Paper Snow Day collection pack on the weekend and making something with it. Totally unrelated to snow or Christmas, but in my opinion, versatility is one of the fabulous things about this pack.


TIP You know how Spellbinders circle dies leaves a lightly embossiedinner edge on your die cut cardstock circle? I added some glitter using a glue pen- the embossed border is the perfect guide. It gives the impression of an extra layer without one.

Supplies
Stamps: Papertrey Ink Mega Mixed Messages
Ink: Colorbox chestnut pigment ink
Paper: Crate Paper Snow Day, PTI rustic white cardstock
Other: Spellbinders large circle dies; PTI felt, PTI flower die, Prisma glitter; various buttons

Pink and green pastels

I find it hard to work with pastel colours usually. But they are great for baby cards. Die cut layers and buttons are basically the features of this card. Simple but classic.

Supplies
Stamps: Papertrey Ink mega mixed messages
Dies: PTI fillable frames #1; Spellbinders labels 4
Paper: Basic Grey
Other: distress ink, PTI twill (ripe avocado)

A card in ten minutes

Jennifer McGuire does amazing videos. And she has recently started a new stamping series called Holiday Thinking Inking. Visit her blog to find out more.


I used one of the techniques she showed in the most recent video to create the background for this card. I love how quick and easy it was to get a layered look to this plain white cardstock. The whole thing was done and dusted in less than ten minutes. I will say that I think this works best with heavy weight cardstock or watercolour paper. Mine is 300gsm (about as thick as you can get).

Tip: Use a tiny hole punch to make a notch in the side of the card where you want the twine to wrap around- it sits much more nicely in place on the card.

Gate fold card

This was a super quick birthday card for a little boy. I rarely do gate fold cards so I was quite stumped for a while, but turning it 180 degrees and adding some felt and stickers made it pretty fun in the end.

Supplies
Cardstock Papertrey Ink aqua mist
Stamps PTI Everyday button bits
Stickers Echo Park Summertime, Sassafras Lass
Other: PTI cloud dies, felt airplane from fun felt set.

Love is simple

Another World Cardmaking Day challenge at Scrapz.biz, this time a window card theme by Sheree. Dies make easy work of cutting windows in cards and it does jazz up even the most simple design.


I printed the template onto the red cardstock (use the inverted image & print on the back), cut it out and then die cut through all the layers on the card front. The felt heart I just cut freehand.

Supplies
Paper: Basic Grey
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink pure poppy
Tools: Be My Valentine template by Papertrey Ink, felt PTI ocean tides, die Spellbinders.

World Cardmaking Day Challenges

There are some great challenges designed to boost your card stash over at Scrapz.biz. Here is one of my entries so far...more to share later.


So many people are in love with the Restoration collection by Crate Paper and I am no exception. I really like the idea of cutting out individual playing cards from the paper and using them as numerical embellishments- this will be a birthday card for a little girl turning two.

I also explored some of the decorative stitches on my sewing machine- stitching just goes so well with this collection.

Supplies
Paper: Crate Paper Restoration
Stamps: Papertrey Ink Just the Ticket
Other: Distress Ink (vintage photo); American Crafts Zing embossing powder (leaf); sewing machine.

Cup of Thanks Card

A friend of mine is doing me a big favour this Friday so I've made a card and bought a little gift.


If you have small scraps from a patterned paper collection or in my case, left overs from a 6 inch paper pad, this card format of a die cut repeated over and over is a simple but really effective design. It works best with small scale patterns.


I've had this bunch of tiny jewelry tags for ages but never had stamps small enough to use with them...all solved now!

Supplies:
Stamps- Papertrey Ink Tea for Two Additions
Die- Papertrey Ink teacup
Paper- Pink Paislee Queen Bee 6 inch paper pad
Cardstock- Papertrey Ink smokey shadow
Ink- versafine onyx black
Other- jewelry tag

Blooming baby card

This card underwent an interesting evolution- initially I stamped the leaves and masked them off before stamping the dot background, but it just looked not right and off balance. So I ended up stamping more leaves, cutting them out and adding them on. Should have just done that in the first place!

By the way, see that ruffle along the base? I lifted that from Diane's blog hop post here. It is brilliant- it looks like kraft (which I love) but is SO much easier than using thick cardstock. And that my friends, is the perfect example of sharing making the crafty world go round. Thanks Diane :)

Supplies
Stamps: Papertrey Ink mega mixed messages, polka dot basics, turning a new leaf.
Ink: Papertrey Ink spring moss, Hero Arts soft pool shadow ink, versafine black
Paper: Papertrey Ink spring moss, aqua mist; Echo Park sweet summertime
Tools: Papertrey Ink flower die

Papertrey July Blog Hop Challenge: office supplies

This is my first PTI blog hop, so an extra special welcome to any hopping visitors! I was very taken with the theme of using office supplies this month, and really tried to rack my brains to come up with interesting things to use.

In the end my supply list included paperclips, a staple, a shipping tag, a price tag and masking tape. And here they all are:


My favourite part of this card is the embossed background. I'm sure you can work out what I used! If you are keen to give this a go yourself, here is how I did it...


I scattered paperclips on a magnetic sheet which I have backed with grip mat. I used the magnetic sheet to combat any sliding around of the paperclips, but it would probably work just as well on a piece of chipboard. I used a Cuttlebug to do the embossing, sandwhich as follows (bottom up): A plate, B plate, magnetic sheet with paperclips on it, cardstock, polymer embossing mat, B plate.


Voila! Just be careful that you don't force anything through your machine that doesn't want to go- you'll break your plates. Got any other ideas for embossing with 'ordinary' items? I'd love to hear them!

My other tip is to try stamping on masking tape. It's kinda like DIY decorative tissue tape!


I tore a strip of tape and put it on some acetate so I could remove it after stamping, then used Papertrey Ink Background Basics text style and black StazOn ink. When it is dry, just remove it gently from the acetate and add it to your project.

Thanks so much for stopping by- I hope you found something fun, useful or inspirational to take with you. If you have the time, I'd really appreciate a comment :)

Card supplies
Paper: Papertrey Ink ripe avocado, kraft; Roman Print white cardstock 300gsm.
Stamps: Papertrey Ink background basics text style, fillable frames #1; Hero Arts galaxy of stars; postal stamps unknown.
Ink: Colorbox chestnut pigment ink, burnt sienna fluid chalk; Hero Arts soft pool shadow ink; Papertrey Ink vintage cream; StazOn black.
Tools: Cuttlebug; Papertrey Ink die fillable frames #1; Tim Holtz tiny attacher.
Other: shipping tag, masking tape, jute string, small price tag, foam adhesive

Welcome Poppy

My favourite cards are the ones I personalise for the recipients. Some friends had their first baby recently, and she is named Poppy. What a perfect opportunity to use this poppy image from Hero Arts!


First I stamped Papertrey Ink Background Basics:text style on rustic white cardstock using Distress Ink (tattered rose). Over this I stamped Poppy Background using versafine ink (sepia). The background has been stamped using PTI polka dot basics, versamark ink and Pearl Ex (pearl) powder added. The sentiment is also PTI- fillable frames #5.

More felt goodness

Still in love with the Papertrey Ink felt. Another card, this time with a die cut felt flower.


For this card I stamped some leaves on rustic white cardstock with spring moss ink, trimmed the piece to a rectangle but cut around the leaves on the edge. I inked the edges with antique linen Distress Ink. The flower is made of a base layer of die cut ocean tides felt, topped with a die cut layer of rustic white cardstock stamped with Background Basics: text style using tattered rose Distress Ink. The edges were inked and a button applied to the middle.

Add a sentiment, some ribbon and some faux stitching with a uniball signo white gel pen.

Felt, wonderful felt

I think I get extra excited when two different hobbies come together in some way, and for this reason I am having a real thing for felt at the moment. This felt from Papertrey Ink is 100% wool, absolutely gorgeous stuff!



I'm torn between making a million and one different things with it and hoarding it in my stash forever! This is the first project it has gone towards- a baby card for some friends expecting soon. I drew the peapod shape on some tissue paper and used it as a pattern to cut the shape from the felt, then backstitched the detail by hand with cotton embroidery floss.



The sentiment and frame is more PTI goodness- Fillable Frames #5. I used the co-ordinating die to deboss the shape that the frame is stamped in. The cuttlebug sandwhich was (bottom up) A plate, B plate, thick cardstock shim, die cutting side down, cardstock centered over die, polymer embossing mat, B plate.

Flying banner birthday wishes

Created with some of my newly arrived Papertrey Ink goodies combined with some favourite existing supplies. It is flying off to a birthday party very soon. This is the full set :


When I showed it to my 5 yr old son the first thing he said was "Look Mum, that one (the top plane) has a radial cooled engine, and the bottom one doesn't." I have to admit, that particular detail had passed me by!

PTI: Fly Away mini stamp set, poppy cardstock
Hero Arts cloud background and soft pool shadow ink
Sassafras Lass flag banner stickers.

Vintage text flower card

Last weekend I finally sat down and made a layered vintage flower- something I'd been meaning to try out for ages. Not quite as breathtaking as the Prima text flowers that inspired me, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.



It is definitely the main event on the card- I just rounded it out with a die cut mat and sentiment which I had coated with clear crackle paint. Paper & die cuts Pink Paislee.

My next post in a couple of days will have a step-by-step explaining what I did to make the flower, just in case you're interested.