Wednesday, February 29, 2012

PTI Make it Monday #55

Dawn's challenge for Make It Monday was to take a smaller frame and make it into a larger frame.  I used a frame from PTI's Mat Stack 1 Collection and double stamped it to make it larger.  I suppose I should have used a darker color, so you could see the frame better, but I wasn't thinking about what it would look like in pictures when I created the card.  It's quite pretty in person. :) You can see the frame slightly better in the closeup below.  I have all sorts of other ideas for this challenge rolling around in my head.  Hopefully I can find time to make another card or two before the week's over.
Supplies
Stamps: Botanic Silhouettes, Mat Stack 1 Collection (both PTI)
Ink: Basic Grey (SU), Soft Sky (SU)
Paper: Lemon Tart (PTI), Breeze (CTMH), Grey, White, Mosaic Memories Paper Pack (Recollections)
Other: Large Scallop Die (PTI), Limitless Layers 1 3/4" Circle Die Collection (PTI), Scallop Edge Border Punch (SU)

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Pages With Papertrey Sketch #6 (February)

I've recently started looking at Leigh Penner's blog.  One of the thing's I really like about her blog is that she uses stamps and other PTI goodies to make scrapbook pages.  I feel a little less guilty about spending time crafting when I am making scrapbook pages of our family, so I decided to use her February sketch and make a layout of some pictures we took when my sister visited last summer.  Obviously the layout looks better in person because you can actually see the kids' darling faces, but I'm a bit proctective, so they have to be blurred.  Just picture the cutest kid you know (because that's how we feel about these kids. :) ).
Here's my page next to Leigh's great sketch.
 
Thes "flowers" are the ice cream scoops from PTI's Sweet as Can Be set.  I embossed the green paper using PTI's Linen & Canvas Impression Plate, and then I stamped the leaves from PTI's Daydreamer set on the back side and cut them out for the red flower.  The large leaves on the blue flower I just drew myself and cut out.
You can't see it well in the pictures, but to separate the large and small photos, I used Stampin' Up's Scallop Edge Border Punch.  To frame in the word "July", I cut one of the circle's from PTI's Limitless Layers 1 3/4" Circle Die Collection in half.  That's one of my favorite parts on the page.


Supplies:
Stamps: Daydreamer, Sweet As Can Be (both PTI)
Ink: Old Olive, Real Red, Soft Sky (All SU)
Paper: Lemon Tart (PTI), Old Olive (SU), Cranberry (CTMH), Breeze (CTMH), Let's Get Together Paper Packet (CTMH)
Other: Linen & Canvas Impression Plate (PTI), Limitless Layers 1 3/4" Circle Die Collection (PTI), Sweet As Can Be Dies (PTI), Scallop Edge Border Punch (SU), Vintage Cream (PTI) and other assorted buttons, Powder Blue Redmond Stencil Chipboard Letters (Scenic Route), embroidery floss

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Make It Monday Challenge 54: Glitter Buttons




Okay, so this isn't my favorite card.  I like the colors and the glittered buttons, but not so much the rest.  I tried so many different ways to change it and things went from bad to worse, so I just simplified and decided to move on.  I watched Disney's Meet the Robinson's a couple weeks ago, and I kept thinking about what they said in the movie about learning more from a failure than a success.  Anyway, I decided that I did make a discovery that I'm happy about in the process of making this card.  I learned that you can successfully cut a button in half using very sharp scissors.  I figure that may come in handy later. 




Supplies
Stamps: Botanical Silhouettes, Signature Greetings, Turning a New Leaf (all PTI)
Ink: Old Olive (SU), Purely Pomegranate (SU), Walnut Stain Distress Ink (Tim Holtz)
Paper: Cream, Old Olive (SU)
Other: Linen & Canvas Impression Plate (PTI), Dazzling Diamonds Glitter (SU), Buttons

Saturday, February 25, 2012

PTI Blog Hop: Interactive Card

This idea popped into my head this morning, but it's taken me all day to finish because I could only work on it for small chunks of time.  I had a ton of fun.  Other than the time thing, I don't know why I don't make interactive cards more often.  I'll post better pictures and details later, but we're off to a volleyball tournament, so I don't have time right now.

Okay, I'm back, and I've added some photos. They're brighter, but they make the card look a bit more goldy-yellow than it is.  And I was hoping that the sparkles on the paper would show up, but no luck.  Oh, well.  You win some, you lose some. 
The photos pretty much explain everything, but the buttons are actually brads, which is what makes the squares so easy to turn. I punched the hole on the top square slightly larger than I normally would when I insert a brad because that helped the square turn a lot more easily.
 
 And now for a couple close ups. 
 I love this little paper-pieced boat.  However, next time I'll probably just color the flag...it was a bit tricky to cut out.

 
 P.S. Since my sisters look at this blog, no, I am not announcing another baby. :) But I do think this would be a pretty fun way to do it. 
Supplies
Stamps: Bitty Baby Blessings (PTI), Borders & Corners: Monogram Edition (PTI), Have a Ball (PTI), Star Prints (PTI), Classic Caps (CTMH), Giggle Lowercase (CTMH) Small Typewriter Alphabet (Stampendous), (oh, and the pregnant woman is a $1 stamp from Michael's, but I don't remember what it was called)
Ink: Basic Grey (SU), Cool Caribbean (SU), Creme Brulee (CTMH)
Paper: Aqua Mist (PTI), Summer Sunrise (PTI), Home Glitter Book (My Mind's Eye), Mosaic Memories Paper Pad(Recollections)
Other: Star Prints Die (PTI), Button Brads (MM), Dimensionals (SU)

Monday, February 20, 2012

TCP Tuesday 196

Simple isn't exactly a word I would use to describe much of what I do in life, but it fits for the card I made today.  It's simple...and I like that.  The inspiration photo below was the challenge at The Cat's Pajamas a couple weeks ago. 

I liked the bright colors, so I focused on that part, and instead of a lollipop, I went with round balloons.  I used the cloud in TCP's Happy Camper set to build the background.  The colors on my card are actually really bright in person, but unfortunately look a bit washed out in the picture.  Ugh.  Lighting seems to always be an issue.  My favorite part of the whole card is how the little bear's hand is holding the balloons.  Thank you Erin for the great idea of double sided stamped images. 
Supplies
Stamps: Happy Camper (TCP), Typewriter Keys (CTMH)
Ink: Cool Caribbean (SU), Green Galore (SU), Only Orange (SU), Real Red (SU), Yoyo Yellow (SU), Amethyst (CTMH)
Paper: White
Other: 3/4" circle punch, Mandarin Twine (Twinery), Caribbean Twine (Twinery)

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

PTI Butterflies & Leaves Challenge 2


Here's another card for the challenge.  (It says "Thank You" in the bottom right corner, but for some reason it's really hard to see.)
Supplies
Stamps: Fancy Flourishes, In Bloom, Mat Stack 1 Collection, Polka Dot Basics, Simply Stationary, Turning a New Leaf
Ink: Versamark, Baja Breeze (SU)
Paper: Baja Breeze (SU), Cream, Lemon Tart (PTI), Melon Berry (PTI), Old Olive (SU), Soft Sky (SU)
Other: Butterfly Punch (Martha Stewart)

PTI Butterflies & Leaves Challenge

 
I love this card.  It's simple, and the colors make me happy.  I also loved that it didn't take hardly any time at all to make.  All good things.  Here are a few more shots, simply because I could not decide which one I liked the best.
Supplies
Stamps: Round & Round (PTI), Turning a New Leaf, Butterfly (from the $1 bin at Michael's)
Ink: Old Olive (SU), Basic Black (SU)
Paper: White, Aqua Mist (PTI)

Monday, February 13, 2012

Ice Cream + Pickles = Bear (PTI Make It Monday #52)

The Make It Monday challenge at PTI this last week was to do double sided stamped die cuts. In the first few entries I saw lots of double sided leaves, flowers, and butterflies submitted (and some were really neat), but I wanted to do something different. When I was looking through my dies, the Sweet As Can Be ice cream cone was upside down and the cone looked like a party hat (perfect- that would be easy to make a double sided image). Then I looked at the rest of the die, and I thought that the upside down ice cream scoop looked like a bear's head, so I decided to experiment. I drew some faces on the ice cream scoop and decided that it really did look like a bear, so then I was off to search for a body....no luck. That is until I saw the pickle in Friendship Jar Fillers and it kind of looked like a bear's arm. It took a bit of playing around (including creating a mirror image of the pickle for the bear's left arm and right leg and flattening out the pickle for the legs), but I finally made a "pickle bear" that I liked.
A picture of my experimenting...
The only problem is that the birthday hat looks more like a Santa hat to me now...I should have left off the trim.   Oh, well.  Maybe I'll just change the sentiment.  I love, love the colors on the card in person, but they didn't show up very well in the pictures.  The layout of the card was inspired by this card made by Niki Estes.

A close up of the hat - this is the part that meets the Make It Monday Challenge.
 
Supplies
Stamps: Friendship Jar Fillers, Friendship Jar Holiday Fillers, Borders and Corners Monogram Edition, Sweet As Can Be, Damask Designs, Polka Dot Basics (all sets PTI)
Ink: Walnut Stain Distress Ink (Tim Holtz), Cameo Coral (SU)
Paper: Berry Sorbet (PTI), Mosaic Memories (Recollections)
Other: 2 1/2" circle punch, 3" scallop circle punch, Sweet As Can Be die, Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Striped 1 1/4" Ribbon (SU), Scallop Trim Border Punch (SU), Desert Sand Marker (CTMH), Bamboo Marker (CTMH), Button Brads (Making Memories - I think)

Sunday, February 12, 2012

PTI Heart Challenge 2

I made another super simple card for PTI's heart challenge.
I used PTI's Linen & Canvas Impression plate to emboss the card, but it's hard to see in the picture.  The one below shows it a little better even though the lighting is worse.  Go figure.
Supplies
Stamps: All My Love (CTMH)
Ink: Real Red (SU)
Paper: Black & White Basics (PTI), White
Other: Linen & Canvas Impression Plate (PTI), Limitless Layers 1 3/4" Circle die (PTI)

A Note

So, my sweet sister did a post about this blog.  She mentioned at the beginning of her post to make sure to type the name of the blog correctly because there is someone else who has a similar blog name.  Anyway, when I was reading her post something bothered me about the spelling...and that's when I realized that I spelled occasional wrong...I added an extra "s".  Ugh.  That's what happens when you do something on a whim after midnight.  I can't even begin to tell you how much the spelling error bugs me....almost enough for me to change my blog name...almost.   It's a bit of a nuisance, but I may still do it.  I'll let you know. ;)

PTI Hearts Challenge

So the challenge today at PTI was really open.  All you had to do was incorporate hearts in some way.  The idea for this card popped into my head this afternoon and it came together pretty easily.  The hardest part was probably just choosing the colors.  Scratch that...it was getting the embossing folder to work.  It's been a really long time since I used an embossing folder, and I totally forgot the sandwich I needed to use.  It took me a few tries to figure it out.  Here are a couple more shots.
You can see the embossing a bit better in this photo.
And this last one actually had the best lighting and shows the colors on the card better.
Supplies
Stamps:Heartfelt (CTMH), Round & Round (PTI)
Ink: Raspberry Fizz (PTI), Cool Caribbean (SU), Pumpkin Pie (SU), Certainly Celery (SU)
Paper: Spring Moss (PTI), White
Other: Mandarin, Caribbean, Honeydew, and Pink Sorbet Twine (Twinery); Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plate (SU), button

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Papertrey Sketch #1 Challenge



Last one for the night.  This was for PTI's 1st sketch.  I'm trying to get better at making my own background paper, so that was actually my focus for this card.
Supplies
Stamps: Giga Guidelines, Signature Greetings, Iconic Images, Polka Dot Basics, Turning a New Leaf (all sets PTI)
Ink: Certainly Celery (SU), Sage Shadow (SU), Walnut Stain Distress Ink (Tim Holtz), Chai & Chamomile Tea Dye (PTI)
Paper: Ocean Tides (PTI), Dark Chocolate (PTI), Cream (from my stash), Mosaic Memories Pad (Recollections)
Others: Favor It Box 1 Die(PTI), On the Edge die (Tim Holtz)

Papertrey Sketch #2 Challenge

This card is PTI's sketch #2.  It's a lot softer than my last card because of the occassion.  Sympathy cards are always hard for me to do.  Here's the sketch.  I took a few creative liberties.
 And the card...
And now a close-up of the pot of flowers.  These were inspired by the leaf on Erin Lincoln's card in this post.  I always forget how pretty mixing two colors of ink on a stamp are until I do it.  These look so much neater in person, too.  They really are beautiful.
 Oh, and I decided through in a little closer view of the background, too.  You still can't see  it as well as I would have liked, but I just love PTI's Text Style set.
Supplies
Stamps: Background Basics: Text Style (PTI), Iconic Images (PTI)
Ink: Old Olive (SU), Chamomile & Chai Tea Dye (PTI), So Saffron (SU), Cranberry (CTMH), Blush (CTMH)
Paper: Sweet Blush (PTI), Cream (from my stash)
Other: ribbon (from my stash...I don't remember where I got it)

Papertrey Sketch #3 Challenge

Another challenge from PTI.  Yay!  This challenge was really fun (my favorite so far), and this card came together so easily.  I pretty much love everything about it.  This is the sketch I used.  I didn't change hardly anything.
 And here's my card. :)
Here's a close up of the flag - my favorite part of the card.  I stamped "eat cake" from PTI's Tiny Treats: Birthday set a bunch of times, and then I embossed it.  I stamped and embossesd the orange-ish flag, too.

Supplies
Stamps: Bitty Baby Blessings, Giga Guidelines,  Polka Dot Basics, Tiny Treats Birthday (all PTI sets)
Paper: Summer Sunrise (PTI), Honeydew (making memories), Citrus Stack (DCWV)
Ink: Tempting Turquoise (SU)
Other: Sweet As Can Be die (PTI), Vintage Cream Buttons (PTI), Lemon Drop Twine (Twinery), 3/4" and 2 1/2" circle punches, 3" scalloped circle punch, white embossing powder (SU), embossing heat tool, dimensionals

Friday, February 10, 2012

Papertrey + Pinterest Challenge

So the challenge on PTI today is to take a Pinterest photo and use it as the source of inspiration for a card.
 Above is Melissa's Pinterest photo (source) and below is my take for the challenge.  I didn't have much time, so this card had to be quick and it's another late night, so the picture is poor quality (especially in contrast to the picture above :) ), but I'll have to retake it tomorrow when it is actually light outside.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

PTI Color Challenge #3

I decided I'd try doing one more submission for the color challenge.  This time I used Lisa's favorite colors.  They're right up my alley.  I love these colors, which is probably why I love this tag.  I didn't stamp a sentiment on it because I'm not sure who I'm giving it to yet.  Enough chat.  Here it is.
 And now a close-up.  It's so pretty in person.  PTI released dies for this flower not too long ago, but I don't have them (yet), so I had to hand cut all this out.  It was worth it, though.

Color Challenge #2

I made another card for PTI's color challenge.  It's REALLY similar to the first, but I just wasn't totally happy with that one.  I'm not sure I'm in love with this one either, but my favorite part is the little butterfly trail.  Silly.  I know.