Welcome to my crafty blog... a "garden" of colourful cards, quilting, sewing projects, knitting...and what ever else happens along the way!!


Saturday, February 25, 2012

Papertrey Ink February 2012 Blog Hop Challenge

This has been an exciting month at Papertrey Ink - Lots of fun and innovative products were released during their 5th Anniversary Celebrations. Several of the new dies and stamp sets focus on making interactive cards -Spinners, Poppers, Sliders and Zippers!!


This month's Blog Hop has challenged us to make a card with an interactive feature.  
I had seen an idea for making a swing card on the Papertrey Ink Forum 
and after watching this video I decided to try that style of card.

After many attempts (and lots of discarded stamping and papers) I was determined to keep trying. Giving up after investing so much time was not an option!!  It's not my most favourite card, but I think I will try this design again, now that I have figured out some of the tricks to making it work!!

Card Closed:


Papertrey Ink Supplies
Kraft card base; Tag-Its #12 stamps; Limitless Layers 1 3/4" Circles; Tea Dye Duo
Other:  Close to My Heart: Clover Meadow ink; beige paper scraps; pink Prima flowers; pink pearls;  corner rounder; foam dimensionals

Card "Swing":

Card "Open":
Papertrey Ink Supplies:  Framed Out #1 Mini Stamp Set & Die;  Tag-Its #12 
Other:  Patterned paper from my stash;   CTMH: Clover Meadow ink;  Memento: Tuxedo Black ink;   The Twinery:Baker's Twine; foam dimensionals

Thanks for visiting. Enjoy hopping!!
Karen C.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Teacup Girl

This is a birthday card I made for my niece who lives in New Zealand. She loves a 'cuppa' tea, so I though the little Teacup Girl (Stamping Bella) would be the perfect image for her card!!



The card base (Core'dinations: Bahama Blue) has been embossed with the Cuttlebug Polka Dot Embossing folder. I wanted a little more texture and interest so I added a 'dot' of glitter to each of the polka dots!! The Teacup Girl image was stamped and coloured with copic markers and then cut out using Nestabilities Label #4.   The sentiment "Tea Time" (Tea for Two Additions) and the leaf image (Just For You) were stamped onto the tea cup with Memento Tuxedo Black ink so that I could use my Copic markers to colour the cup.


I love PTI's Bloom Builder's #3 die set. It can create a large fluffy flower or a smaller version like the one I use on this card. I pulled the colours from the tea cup and the background card stock to make this detail, and then added three small tags (Stampin'Up's Tiny Tags punch and border stamp). The sentiments are from PTI's Tiny Tags, Tiny Tags II and Tea for Two Additions. I used my copic markers to colour the tags so they blend with the rest of the card.


The inside uses the dandelion images from Botanical Silhouettes and sentiments from Daydreamer and Just the Ticket.

Card Details:
Stamps:   Stamping Bella: Teacup Girl;  PTI: Tea for Two Additions, Tiny Tags II,  Just For You, Botanical Silhouettes, Daydreamer, Just the Ticket
Inks:   Memento Tuxedo Black,   Close to My Heart: Buttercup, Ocean.
Papers:   PTI: Stamper's Select White, Rustic White;   Core'dinations: Bahama Blue; yellow from my stash
Dies: Nestabilities Label #4; PTI: Bloom Builders #3;
Other Supplies:   Copic markers,  Cuttlebug: Polka Dot Embossing folder;  Stickles;   SU: Tiny Tag punch; yellow brad corner rounder.


Thanks for visiting today.
Karen C.

Blog Giveaway Update

Papertrey Ink's Flower Fusion #2 Die  
was offered as a giveaway on my blog between Feb. 2 and Feb. 5th, 2012. A winner was announced on Monday February 6th. Unfortunately, the individual who won did not provide any contact information and has not e-mailed me with that information.
Therefore I revisited the list of comments and randomly 
selected an alternate winner. Congratulations to Leigh!!


Comment #15: 

Leigh  said .......
What a sweet card, Karen! 
And what a great discovery!
February 3, 2012 9:20 AM

Thanks for visiting!
Karen C.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Love is in the Air

I finally got a chance to participate in some of the festivities at Papertrey Ink's 5th Anniversary Celebrations. Today Nichole Heady introduced some wonderful new stamps and dies for February. One of my favourites is the Hearts-2-Hearts #1 set by Melissa Bickford. I can hardly wait to see the final reveal. 

Meanwhile, I've set my sights on making a few cards for Valentine's Day with some of the stamp sets I already have. Today's challenge at Papertrey Ink was to make a card using Hearts!!   I used a variety of stamps and dies for this:

Fly Away stamps and dies, Postmarks and Love Lives Here, along with the Sunshine Impression Plate were used to create a fairly simply and clean card.  The little heart stamp was centered in the middle of each of the sunshine circles. I coloured the airplane with copic markers and added a little pearl to the tail. I tied a little piece of Pure Poppy Baker's Twine to the sentiment banner and attached it to the end of the airplane. Foam adhesives were used to raise the sentiment banner and the airplane on the card front.

The inside of the card uses the house and sentiment from Love Lives Here, with Pure Poppy and Chocolate inks.

Thanks for Visiting today.
Karen C.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Cupcake Bugaboo & a Giveaway!!


Details for the giveaway are at the end of this post.

My little grand niece in New Zealand celebrated her first birthday last month, so I made this card and popped it in the mail at the beginning of January. 


I started by stamping Cupcake Bugaboo (from Stamping Bella) onto white card stock and then colouring with copic markers. Stickles were used to accent the sprinkles on the cupcake. The image panel, as well as a pink and white polka dot mat was cut with the Nestabilities Label #11 die.  Close to My Heart Buttercup ink was sponged around the edges of the image panel.

Pink Baker's Twine was tied around the front panel and onto the tag. Finally, a few clear bubble gems were added to the various flowers on the patterned paper and the edges were sponged with some Blush ink before attaching it to the card base.


The floral patterned paper gave me the inspiration to use the little flower from Tiny Tags for the sentiment.

And then .... a happy accident .......
I found that the Flower Fusion #2 die was perfect to use as a mat for the Tiny Tags flower. I used the die to cut a second layer from the polka dot paper.




Here's the Tiny Tags Flower layered on top of 
a pink layer of card stock cut from the 
Flower Fusion #2 die. So Sweet!!





 
Here's the inside of the finished card: 
Stamps from Big Birthday Wishes and a die from By the Numbers.

 Card Details:
Stamps-  PTI: Tiny Tags, Big Birthday Wishes;  Stamping Bella: Cupcake Bugaboo
Inks-  CTMH: Blush, Buttercup;   Memento: Tuxedo Black
Paper-  PTI: Stamper's Select White, Vintage Cream;  floral and polka dot papers from my stash.
Dies-  Nestabilities Label #11;  PTI: Tiny Tags, Flower Fusion #2, By the Numbers
Other Supplies-  Copic markers; Stickles; The Twinery Pink Baker's Twine; clear bubble gems.


        A Tiny "Flower" Give Away

If you have the Tiny Tags stamp and die set,  
(or even if you don't have them!) you may want to 
add the Flower Fusion #2 die to your stash. 
And .........since I have an extra die I thought
I would offer it to my blog visitors. 

Just leave a comment at the end of this post 
by 11 pm Sunday February 5th  (EST).  
I will randomly choose a name and  post the 
results on my blog.  Make sure to check back here on Feb 6th .

Edited Feb. 16, 2012
The original winner, ldid not respond, so it was necessary to re draw a winner from the comments. Please visit  this post   for the winner.

This 'tiny' give away is open to all blog visitors. Good Luck!! and Thanks for visiting today.
Karen C.