Groovy Flower

Thanks to everyone that stopped by during PTI's Blog Hop. Your kind comments were very appreciated. It was also great to have a chance to look at everyone else's projects - they were all fantastic. I am looking forward to next month's Hop!

Again, I apologize for the sporadic blogging. I was so proud of myself there for a while since I was doing a good job of posting everyday. My job has been pretty overwhelming recently, and I am wrapped up in playoff hockey, so I haven't been very motivated. The card I am going to share today is one that we made at Stamp Camp. It has a very simple layout, but it was one of my favorites.

The card base is a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock. Layered on top of that is a strip of Afternoon Tea Designer Series Double-Sided paper. I pulled the colors from the patterned paper for the main image. The stamp set is Live Your Dream, from the Occasions Mini Catalog. Instead of directly inking my stamp, I used my Aqua Painter and painted the ink onto the stamp. I huffed on it and then stamped it onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock - it gave the image a sort of washed out, weathered look. If you've never tried it - give it a shot! It was a fun technique. I used Wild Wasabi for the stems, Groovy Guava for the flowers, and Chocolate Chip for the flower centers. I then stamped the butterfly in Soft Sky on a separate piece of cardstock and cut it out. I added some sparkle with my Sakura Clear Gel Pen and mounted it on my main stamped image with foam tape.

The entire piece was layered on a piece of Groovy Guava. I added a strip of Chocolate Chip Poly-Twill ribbon finished off with the flower slide from the Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware, both available in the Occasions Mini Catalog. Finally, I stamped the triple flower stamp from the Live Your Dream set in Chocolate Chip to the upper left side. That was it!

Thanks for stopping by, have a great night!



Card Supplies:

Stamps: Live Your Dream (SU!)
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava, Whisper White, Afternoon Tea DSDS (SU!)
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky (SU!)
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Poly-Twill ribbon, Flower Slide from Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware (SU)!

April Blog Hop!

Hi everyone! Welcome to another edition of PTI's Blog Hop! When I saw Nichole's challenge for April, the part that stuck with me was the theme of the small squares. I wanted to make sure that my project maintained this concept. I thought about what I wanted to do, and then the other day, sitting at my desk at work I spied this:

It is my pencil cup, which was originally a mosaic glass votive candle holder... so using that inspiration, here's what I came up with:

It is a lantern!

Here is closer shot (bear with me, I have a few different photos to share with you to give you the full effect!)

I started with a clear paint can (this one was purchased at Staples). I then cut a piece of vellum to line the inside of the paint can. This was going to be my base for the mosaic. I used a 3/4-inch square punch to punch out my tiles from the Father's Knows Best patterned paper sheet provided by Nichole. Since the squares on the paper were 1-1/2 inch square, I could get 4 squares out of each!

Next, I adhered the patterned paper squares to the vellum, keeping the pattern random. After all the squares had been adhered, I just slipped the vellum inside the paint can! It was a perfect liner, and was so easy.

Then I was ready to begin working on the outside of the paint can. I used white StazOn to stamp the fancy square from Simple Little Things, (the Anniversary Set) randomly on the outside of the can. I was hoping it would create a shadow effect once the lantern was lit. I added a strip of brown twill ribbon to the bottom rim of the can, and pearlescent Dew Drops around the top rim. The final touch was to tie different colored ribbons to the handle and I was ready to light it up!

While I did use a candle for my photographs, I would recommend using one of the battery-operated votive candles if you should make something like this.

Here's a view with the lights out:

It turned out just as I had imagined! The stamped images on the outside create a pretty patterned shadow when the lantern is lit. Here's a close up:

Well, what do you think? Wouldn't this be a great addition to a deck or patio? Even a non-hanging version (with a battery-operated votive) would make a beautiful centerpiece for an evening party or wedding!

Thank you for stopping by - I am really looking forward to reading all your comments. And don't forget to head back to Papertrey Ink's Forum to vote for your favorite, most inspiring project! Please keep me in mind! I can't wait to see what all the other participants have come up with!

Thanks again for stopping by and participating in the Blog Hop!

Project Supplies:

Stamps: Simple Little Things (PTI)
Paper: Vellum, April Blog Hop Father Knows Best patterned paper sheet
Ink: StazOn white
Accessories: Acrylic paint can, Lemon Tart and Summer Sunrise Topnotch Twill (PTI), Chocolate Chip twill (SU), yellow ric-rac (American Crafts), Pearlescent Dew Drops (The Robin's Nest)

April Blog Hop is tomorrow!

Tomorrow is Papertrey Ink's second monthly Blog Hop. This month, 25 blogs were chosen to be listed on the Featured Blog List! And what do you know, my blog was picked!! How exciting is that! So check back tomorrow to see my project! I am very excited about it.. I did my best to think outside of the box. I look forward to seeing you then!

Blue Butterfly

This card is one that we made last week at Stamp Camp. The layout for this card was taken from one of my previous issues of Stampin' Success.

The card base is Brocade Blue. Layered on top of that is a strip of Bashful Blue, Shimmer White, and Night of Navy textured cardstock. The Bashful Blue is stamped with the fancy scalloped circle from the Kind Thoughts set in Bashful Blue ink. The flower centers are highlighted with my Sakura clear sparkle gel pen. The butterfly is stamped in Night of Navy on a piece of Shimmer White and then cut out. It is layered on top of a circle punched out of Shimmery White. The sentiment is from All Holidays, stamped in Night of Navy. I like how it is slightly larger than the cardstock and the little flourishes extend off the paper.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed today's card. Stop back tomorrow for more Stamp Camp cards!



Supplies:

Stamps: Kind Thoughts, All Holidays (SU)
Paper: Brocade Blue, Bashful Blue, Shimmer White, Night of Navy textured (SU)
Ink: Bashful Blue, Night of Navy
Accessories: Sakura clear sparkle gel pen

Fabulous Flower Birthday

Sorry about the neglected blog. I have been so swamped at work lately, and I have had little time or energy for stamping and blogging once I've gotten home. Oh well, I will try and work to be more motivated!

I was visiting with my in-laws over the weekend and learned that my husband's great aunt is having a birthday this week. We don't see her very often, but every time that we do, she is always so classy and put together. I was looking for some motivation to create, so I decided to send her a card. No matter how many cards I have on hand, I always like to make a special one for the occasion. I went for a classic, simple sketch and made myself pass over the Papertrey stamps to pick a Stampin' Up! set. Here is what I came up with:

I flipped through my patterned paper stash and found this one, Admire, from the Basic Grey Blush line. I pulled my colors from the paper, choosing Soft Sky, Ruby Red, and PTI Sweet Blush. The strip of patterned paper was layered onto a piece of Ruby Red that was scalloped with my corner rounder.

The large (dahlia?) flower from SU's Fabulous Flowers set was stamped three times in Ruby Red onto Sweet Blush cardstock and cut out. I sprayed the flower with some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Iridescent Gold and added some adhesive pearls to the center. I tied a strip of Sweet Blush Topnotch Twill to the patterned paper and adhered it all to a base of Soft Sky. The sentiment is from PTI's Birthday Basics set, which has a wonderful selection of sentiments for the card inside and outside. Next step was into an envelope that had been stamped with the large flower in Sweet Blush, and it was off to its recipient! Happy Birthday, Aunt Billie!

That's it for me! I have another post for you tomorrow.. some things we made at Stamp Camp last week. Thanks for stopping by!



Supplies:

Stamps: Fabulous Flowers (SU), Birthday Basics (PTI)
Paper: Soft Sky, Ruby Red (SU), Sweet Blush (PTI), Admire (Blush line, Basic Grey)
Ink: Ruby Red (SU), Burnt Umber (Palette Ink)
Accessories: Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist (Tattered Angels), Sweet Blush Topnotch Twill (PTI), adhesive pearls, corner rounder

We Have a Winner!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

9
Timestamp: 2008-04-16 16:05:55 UTC

Mary, that's you! Please send me your postal address and I will get your Anniversary set in the mail right away. Check out Mary's awesome stained glass card here.

Thanks to everyone for participating! All of your cards were beautiful - it was really interesting to see what each of you chose from the original card to use as inspiration. I wish I had enough sets to send you all one!

I hope you stop back from time to time and I will be sure to visit your blogs as well.

I hope you have a great day!

A Gift, A Card, A Challenge, and a Giveaway!

I have been lazy and neglectful of my blog lately, but I'll make it up to you!

Earlier this week, I received my much-anticipated Anniversary set from PTI! What a wonderful gift for buying their fabulous products! The card I have to share with you today is using PTI's Anniversary Set, Simple Little Things. That link takes you to the PTI forum, where Nichole posted a picture of the set. (If you don't want to see it, watch out! And quit reading this! :)

My first impression of the set was that the images looked like stained glass. So I set out to create that look in my card.

I started with a 5.5" by 11" piece of Spring Moss. The back panel of the card is longer than the front to show off the 'stained glass'. I stamped three of the circular images in Palette Ink Noir onto vellum. Then I used my good old colored pencils to color them in. I actually added the color to the back of the vellum - to me, this keeps the black sharp and creates the leaded look.

The vellum is actually sandwiched between the cardstock: a 1.5" piece is folded towards the back of the card to give it a clean finish. The circles were punched with a 1 3/8-inch punch.

Here is a close up shot of the images (you can click any image for a larger view):

And now one with the light behind it:

For the front of the card, I masked off about half an inch on each side and stamped the smaller cross repeatedly. I added a white dot to every other row using the smallest single dot from Polka Dot Basics. The medallion on the front is actually 3 different stamps all layered together. First I stamped the very ornate circle from Simple Little Things in Spring Moss onto Kraft cardstock. Then I followed up with the bolder image in Palette Ink Noir. Finally, I used one of the small designs from the Borders & Corners Oval set in Palette Ink Claret to add more color. I finished it off with a green brad in the center. The sentiment is also from the Anniversary set.

With that said, I challenge you to create something! Find something about this card that inspires you, whether it is the layout, the colors, the multi-stamped images, or whatever! Post a comment with a link to your blog or gallery sharing your creation. On Wednesday, April 16 at 12:00 pm EST I will use the Random Number Generator to randomly choose a winner. We should all have recuperated from Tax day and the PTI Release at that point. And what are you playing for, do you ask?

Why, the chance to win my extra Anniversary set! I know there are many of you PTI forum members that did not qualify for a set, and I'd like to give one of you the opportunity to have it. So hit your craft room and share your creations! I am really looking forward to seeing them!

Have a great day!



Supplies:

Stamps: Simple Little Things, Polka Dot Basics, Borders & Corners Oval (PTI)
Paper: Spring Moss (PTI), Kraft, Vellum (SU)
Ink: Spring Moss, Noir, Claret (Palette Ink), Whisper White Craft (SU)
Accessories: Colored pencils, brad

A Quick RAK

I am beat. I really didn't get much R&R this weekend and work has been just overwhelming. I spent some time with a friend on Saturday, which was a lovely time, but then as soon as I walked in the door Bill called and asked if I could fill in at the store. Uh, no. I have a full time job already. I don't want to work on the weekend too. Of course I went. Then I was there on Sunday, too. So needless to say I didn't get much time to play around in my stamp room. I forced myself to get my Stamp Camp cards done for later this week and I hate the feeling of forced creativity. Thank goodness for card sketches.

I was delighted to check my mail on Saturday and receive this RAK from Jeanne. I love the little punched out flower over the ribbon. Thank you Jeanne, it is wonderful! So, that's all you guys are getting from me today. I have to attend a township meeting for work this evening (yipee!), so I've got to get myself out of here. Enjoy the lovely card and I will be back with something sometime soon, I promise!

Pretty Bird

I snuck some stamp time in before the hockey game started last night. I had written down a sketch I saw on Jen Del Muro's blog, i{heart}2stamp a few days ago and wanted to try it out! I jumped on the bird trend bandwagon and picked up Inkadinkado's Birds Galore clear set at Stamp Fanci, my local stamp store. It was sitting on my desk and I thought it would work well with this sketch.

Here's my card:

All the colors were chosen basen on the patterned paper, which is Fiona, from the Basic Grey Perhaps collection. I picked out Purely Pomegranate, Really Rust, Groovy Guava, and PTI Sweet Blush to match the colors in the patterned paper.

The card base is Sweet Blush and is approximately 6-1/8" by 4-1/4". I know its a strange size, but I thought I would use a piece I had cut already. I stamped the large group of birds stamp onto the card base in Sweet Blush. The horizontal strip of patterned paper was layered onto a piece of Purely Pomegranate. I added some faux stitching to the top of this piece. The vertical strip of patterned paper was layered onto a piece of Really Rust. Rub-ons from SU's Eastern Elegance Collection were added to the patterned paper.

The ovals were cut out of Groovy Guava and Really Rust using my oval Nestabilities. The rust oval was stamped with the double line oval stamp from PTI's Borders & Corners Oval set. Two orange brads were added to either side.

The bird was inked first with Groovy Guava, then the edges were inked with Really Rust and then Purely Pomegranate. I spritzed it with water and then stamped onto PTI SS White. I added clear embossing powder to the image and heated until it melted. I then cut the image out and mounted it onto the rust oval with foam tape. Everything was sponged with Chocolate Chip ink to give it an aged look. That's it! I really like the way this turned out- and I used products that I might typically hoard! :)

One of my Stamp Campers asked how I take my card photographs. I thought I would share in case anyone else was wondering as well. Anytime I have come across any information from other stampers about how they take their photos, I always take note. Here's a photo of my set up:

I use a styrofoam box that the fish are delivered in to the store as my backdrop. It works well, and was free! I have two Ott-Lite Truecolor Craft Lamps that I got on sale at JoAnn's. I just put my cards in the box, adjust the lights and take my pictures! I am glad that I set this up - I really felt like without good pictures, how could you tell what my cards really looked like? I feel much more confident in sharing things now. So that's what I do - if anyone has any more questions, just let me know.

Thanks for stopping by - have a great day!



Supplies:

Stamps: Birds Galore (Inkadinkado), Borders & Corners Oval (PTI)
Paper: Purely Pomegranate, Really Rust, Groovy Guava (SU), Sweet Blush (PTI), Fiona from Perhaps Collection (Basic Grey)
Ink: Sweet Blush (Palette Ink for PTI), Groovy Guava, Really Rust, Purely Pomegranate, Chocolate Chip (SU)
Accessories: Oval Nestabilities, orange brads (Making Memories), Eastern Elegance Rub-ons (SU)

Ride 'Em Cowboy!

This is another card from a while back. We made this for a Stamp Camp project. It is one of my favorites!

The card base is Creamy Caramel stamped with two of the designs from SU's Wanted. The card base was then stamped with the Sanded background stamp - all were stamped in Creamy Caramel.

The main image is the cowboy from Bronc Buster. He was stamped in Close to Cocoa and then stamped with the Sanded stamp in Creamy Caramel. This image was then layered on a square of Really Rust. The star is from Wanted and was stamped in Close to Cocoa on Sage Shadow and punched out with the small star punch. The photo corner was punched out of a piece of Sage Shadow that had been stamped with the paisley image from the set. Copper brads were added to both of these and they were adhered using foam tape. The Close to Cocoa textured cardstock strip was dry embossed using the Crop-o-dile. I love to do this - it looks like rivets.

That's it - simple layout that is very versatile!

As promised, I also want to share a picture of the necklace that my mom made me. It is much prettier in person - lots of color and texture! She has made others with other color combinations. The most recent one she showed me was a nice royal blue and silver and also a jade green and brown. That one was gorgeous!

Wouldn't you like one too?

Have a great day, thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps: Wanted, Bronc Buster, Sanded (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Creamy Caramel, Really Rust, Whisper White, Sage Shadown, Close to Cocoa textured (SU!)
Ink: Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa (SU!)
Accessories: Star punch, Photo corner punch, copper brads, Crop-o-dile

An Oldie but a Goodie

I spent last night on the couch with Bill watching the Penguins game, so I didn't have time for anything new. I do have a few projects that I haven't shared with you yet, so you're getting one of those today (and tomorrow too, since I have scuba tonight).

I made this tin for my mom for Valentine's Day using PTI's large heart tin with clear top. This is a blatant CASE of Debbie Olson's awesome heart tin she made for the January release. As soon as I saw it, I knew those flowers had to be on my tin. I wasn't even original in my placement! I used different patterned paper for the project, but followed Debbie's instructions for application. The flowers were cut out of PTI SS White using my Cuttlebug and the Flower #1 die. I used the Beautiful Blooms set to stamp my flowers. I've showed you this before, but see how they coordinate? Genius, I tell you! I used SU! Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, and Rose Red ink for the flowers. The leaves were stamped with um.. I don't remember. VersaMagic Aloe Vera and Sage, I think. I sponged over everything with Creamy Caramel to give it a slightly aged look. The rhinestones in the flower centers are from K&Company. Here's a close up:

I filled the tin with beads for my mom (she is making these awesome crocheted wire necklaces - you should see the pretty one she made me... well maybe I'll show you!) and it was her present. Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!

Supplies:

Stamps: Beautiful Blooms (PTI)
Paper: SS White (PTI), patterned paper unknown
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Creamy Caramel (SU), VersaMagic Aloe Vera, VersaMagic Sage (Tsukineko)
Accessories: rhinestones (K&Company)