Papertrey May 2011 Blog Hop Challenge

May is the month when many flowers are in full bloom after a long winter's sleep.  

For the blog hop this month we want to see your favorite take on flowers.  

You can stamp backgrounds, create custom floral embellishments, showcase unique 

flower center additions (buttons, rhinestones, beads, etc...),flowers die-cut from 

different materials (like fabric, felt, vellum, etc...) or anything else you can dream up! 

     I just received my new order from Papertrey Ink with all sorts of  flowery goodies. 
I wanted my card to include the violets image from Year of the Flower Collection and the seed packet and accessories from Garden Variety. So Much Fun!!  
      I actually tried several different coloured card stock and ink variations, but this is the one that I liked the most. I don't know about others, but when I get a new stamp set it often takes a bit of trial and error before I get 'comfortable' with the possibilities. 

     I didn't get the seed packet frame in my recent order, so I ended up cutting it out by hand!! Yikes. The frame is on my wish list now!! 
     I also stamped the violet on white card stock and after colouring with copics I fussy cut it before adding it to the embossed white background. I also did a lot of heat embossing with white on the Royal Velvet card stock. I really like the way that it 'pops' on that dark background. 

Here's a quick overview of the goodies that I used:

Stamps: PTI Butterfly Dreams (sentiment); Garden Variety; Year of the Flowers Collection 

PTI Dies: PTI Button Card; Garden Variety Die Set;

Cardstock: PTI Royal Velvet; Lemon Tart, Stamper's Select White

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; SU Lovely Lilac; Versamark

Other Supplies: White Detail Embossing Powder; Stampin' Up Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder; rhinestones; copic markers; EK Success Dotted Scallop Border Punch 

Thanks for visiting. Enjoy the Blog Hop!!

Karen C.

Two Plants & an Ant!

     I wanted to create a decorative gift wrap for a few perennials as part of a gift for my sister-in-law. I really liked what Jessica Witty did here with some new Papertrey Ink products. I'm waiting for my 'picket fence' die, but I knew that I wanted try to duplicate this look. Here's my version:

      I started with 2 potted plants, placed on a heavy cardboard base and
then  wrapped together with a strip of Kraft card stock. PTI's Wood grain Impression plate was used  on the card stock before I sponged it with some CTMH Brown Bag ink. An additional strip of paper was used to make a handle. The edges of the paper were punched with a dotted scallop border punch.

The 'picket fence' was made with strips of Rustic Cream card stock and then stamped with Background Basics:Woodgrain in CTMH Bamboo ink. I'm sure the new picket fence die will make future projects much faster and simpler!!
The little dots were added with Chocolate ink to imitate nail heads.

     Several butterflies were die cut and stamped with PTI Butterfly Dreams stamp set.  The little tag is from Tiny Tags - first diecut and then stamped. Orange and cream Baker's Twine from the Twinery was used to accent the tag.

     Hopeful Ant from High Hopes Stamps was perfect for this card. Water colouring pencils were used on the image and then it was mounted onto a cranberry background. The patterned paper from My Mind's Eye was edged on the top and bottom with a scalloped border punch and then added to another cranberry mat. A cranberry ribbon and bow accent the image. The sentiment, (Playful Expressions from TPC Studios) was stamped in CTMH Cranberry ink.

Thanks for visiting today.
Karen C.

Flower Fusion Fun

I haven't been in my crafty space too much over the last week -  - 
I ended up with a rotator cuff injury which has really sidelined me!! 
Hopefully physiotherapy, ice packs and lots of quiet time will help it heal quickly!! 

I finally spent some time organizing and stamping a little bit today.  When I saw 
Betsy Veldman's card using Papertrey Ink's Flower Fusion #1 stamp set and die,
I knew I wanted to try something similar.  Betsy used some red, blue and green,
but I decided to try a soft pastel colour scheme for my niece's birthday this month. 
Here's my version:

Card Front:

Papertrey Ink Products 
Dot Spot  - flower centers
Take Three: Summer - sentiment
Flower Fusion #1 stamp and die 
Friendship Jar Label stamp and die
Love Lives Here - heart

Canvas Impression Plate
Stamper' Select White card stock 

Inks:  Close to My Heart: 
Blush, Sweet Leaf, Lilac Mist

Other Supplies:  
The Twinery Baker's Twine
Kaisercraft pearl 
EK Success Dotted Scallop Border Punch

Inside:

Papertrey Ink Products -   

Big Birthday Wishes - sentiment 

Flower Fusion #1 stamp and die;

Love Lives Here - heart

Inks:  Close to My Heart: 
Blush, Sweet Leaf, Lilac Mist

Thanks for visiting. Have a great week!  
Karen C.

Princess Birthday

     My nephew's daughter will be celebrating her fourth birthday later this month. She loves princesses and the colour purple so I decided to make her a little princess birthday card and a matching bag.  When I was a little girl I always loved going to the library to find a collection of books to bring home. This book bag will hold lots of goodies!!

     I've had this Stamping Bella's Everyday Princess stamp for a while and knew that it would be a fun image for her card. I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto PTI's Stampers' Select White card stock and coloured it with copic markers. A few pink rhinestones were added to the crowns.

     Once it was cut and embossed with a Nestabilities die, I sponged the edges with some purple ink and then mounted it on a piece of patterned paper. A small lavender bow was added to the image panel. The card base was made with pink card stock that was embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder.

     The inside of the card was finished with sentiments from Big Birthday Wishes and Everyday Button Bits. The number "4"   (PTI's By the Numbers die set)  was cut from the patterned paper and mounted onto purple paper, cut with one of the Limitless Layers 1 3/4" circles. Purple dashes outline the number and the circle. Pink dots and purple dashes were added to the outside edges of the white card stock. 

The accent strip on the bottom of the card was made by cutting a piece of the patterned paper and mounting it onto the purple paper that had been punched with a dotted scallop border punch.

Here's a closer view of the fabric purchased on a recent shopping trip. 

Here's the book bag that I made for Lilly. I had some pink fabric in my stash, so I made strips along the pockets and the top of the bag to add a little brightness. It has similar design details as these:  here  and  here, that I made for my other grand nieces.

Card Details:

Stamps:  Stamping Bella Everyday Princess; PTI Big Birthday Wishes, Everyday Button Bits.

Inks:  Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Pixie Pink, Lovely Lilac

Papers:  PTI Stamper's Select white; pink card stock; purple and patterned paper from my scrap box

Other Supplies:  Nestabilities Labels #4; PTI By the Numbers die set;  Kaisercraft rhinestones; lavender ribbon;  EK Success Dotted Scallop border punch; copic markers; pink and purple Marvy markers; Embossing folder: Sizzix Curlique; corner rounder.

I've been busy sewing over the past week. 

My 5th grand niece was born last week and I made a few little things for her. You can see those sewing projects here.

Thanks for visiting. Have a great day!!

Karen C.

Sewing Projects for Baby Parker

     One of my neices had her second daughter last week - here are some of the sewing projects that I completed for sweet baby Parker, using one of the fabrics  I purchased on a recent trip to Duluth. This single knit fabric has lots of bright colours and little 'zoo' animals - lions, giraffes, elephants, zebras and cats.

A cute little dress for this summer....

Two matching bibs that have been backed with some soft, thick terry towel....

Here's the same fabric used to trim a hooded bath towel - a soft pink
terry towel was chosen, but the bright trim adds a punch of colour.

I included this card for the new parents. (You can find the details for this card here)

  

This one was for the new baby.  (You can find details for this card  here )

Thanks for visiting!  Have a great day.
Karen

Papertrey Ink April 2011 Blog Hop

Boys To Men

This month's blog hop is dedicated to all the boys and men in our lives!  

Now's your chance to create Father's Day projects, boy birthday cards 
and more to build up your stash!  Focus on masculine color schemes, 
fresh pattern combinations, understated embellishments and unique 
uses of images you may already have in your stash!

     Many card makers find masculine cards a real challenge, and I'm certainly one who struggles every time I have to make one. Texture and darker, traditional colours  always seem to be a safe approach, with a simple design and only a few embellishments.  

     Here's a card that will be perfect for my brother - his birthday is in the middle of May, 
so I will be ready for his big day!!

     I still haven't received my April Papertrey Ink order, so the little airplane from Fly Away has been stamped on white Bella paper, coloured with copics and then fussy cut.
      PTI's Blueberry Sky card stock was embossed with Stampin'Up's Square Lattice folder to crete the card base. A striped paper was used to form a base for the main image  and then this was mounted onto a cream coloured card stock. Thin strips of co-ordinating circular patterned paper was cut with my scalloped border punch and added to the top and the bottom of the focal panel. 
     Baker's twine and a red button finish off the left side of the card.  I used the circular image with a special delivery sentiment from Postmarks and accented this with the small star image from the same set and then placed it on the top right hand side of the card for some balance.

     The inside of the card uses a sentiment from Fillable Frames #6 . I used the two patterned papers to accent the bottom of the card -  a few thin strips of the striped paper and some punched circles.

Card Details:

Stamps:  PTI Fly Away, Postmarks, Fillable Frames #6

Inks:  CTMH Moonstruck, Cranberry, Holiday Red, Chocolate; Memento Tuxedo Black

Papers:  PTI Blueberry Sky card stock; Bella white card stock; Bazzill Cream textured card stock; We R Memory Keepers patterned paper

Other Supplies:  Stampin'Up Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder;  PTI Poppy Red Baker's Twine; red button; scalloped border punch;  circle punches: 1/2" & 7/8";  small corner punch

Thanks for stopping by - Enjoy the rest of the blog hop!!  

Karen

Floral Birthday Card with a Twist!!

      It's been quiet on my blog over the last few weeks. But . . . I have been working on lots of projects - just haven't finished many of them!!

That always seems to happen when I have too many ideas and not enough uninterrupted time.  I start a project and then set it aside because something else has 'caught my fancy'. 
     I finally finished this card after fussing with it for several days. I saw this "Hello Friend" card on Michelle Wooderson's blog and thought I would CASE it. I don't do very well when I'm trying to duplicate someone's work - it never seems to turn out the way I think it should. Sometimes I just don't have the right stamps, tools, paper or embellishments. That's when I have to "give up the dream" and try to work out something with the supplies I have on hand.

Here's the Twist

  Michelle often uses fabric on her cards, but on her sample, she used paper that looked like a floral fabric. Instead of paper I used a pretty pink and yellow fabric on my card; that's what you can see on the two small pinked squares and the scalloped edges. I was surprised how well the dies cut through the fabric pieces - I definitely will be doing this again, since I have a large stash of fabrics!!

Here's an overview of all the card details. Stamps, dies and the impression plate are from Papertrey Ink, inks are from Close to My Heart and most of the papers are odds and ends from my scrap pile!

Card Base: 

Pink card stock stamped with Tin Types in Hollyhock ink

White Card Front:

Linen Impression Plate was used to create a 'fabric effect'

Stamps and Dies: 

A sentiment from Floral Fusion #1 was stamped with Hollyhock ink.

Background Basics: Gingham was stamped above the sentiment using Sunny Yellow ink.  The Gingham stamp from Bitty Background Blocks was stamped in yellow ink and then two  1" squares were cut using an EK Success punch. These were layered onto floral fabric that was cut using the pinked square die from the Button Card Die  Collection. 

Other Details 

Flowers: 

Stampin'Up's Boho Flower punch was used to create the pink flowers. After they were punched out I crumpled the paper, layered two large and one small flower and then added a small yellow button with embroidery floss to the center of the flowers.  For another detail a small green leaf image from an EK Success punch was added to each flower.

Borders: 

The Banners Border Die was used to cut three scalloped borders from the floral fabric, and then they were positioned on the card with one scalloped edge facing up and two overlapping down.  A white ribbon and bow were placed over the edges of the borders to cover the 'seam'. I tried to create a 'splattered' effect on the ribbon using the yellow ink pad. (Michelle used Mr. Huey spray mist to make the splatters on her ribbon)

The Final Touch:

Three brads were added to the left side of the sentiment for some balance. The colours - pink, yellow and green were chosen to co-ordinate with the colours in the floral print.

    Here's the inside of the card with a sentiment from the Big Birthday Wishes  set and the happy birthday sentiment from Little Bitty Birds, with Hollyhock ink.

The flower from Flower Fusion #1 was stamped with Hollyhock and Garden Green inks.

I used my new Dotted Scallop punch to create 'grass' and added that below the flower and sentiment. Yellow ink was sponged around the edges of the upper card and within the sentiment panel. Garden Green was sponged around the bottom portion.

There's lots of room to add a little note when I'm ready to give this to the birthday girl.

Hope everyone is having a great Easter week-end.

Karen