Tuesday, April 29, 2014

A Tag For Fun

When I was uploading some pictures, I stumbled on a tag I never shared here.  I made it a few months ago when I was experimenting with my dies.  Since my blog has been so quiet, I decided to share it even though it's old.  I used PTI's Tag Sale #5 die (below) to make the tag.
Tag Sale #5 Die
I die cut the tag in several colors, then used the bottom of the tag to die cut smaller chevrons from each colored tag.  I pieced together all the little chevron pieces and cut a fringe across the bottom just for fun.    I don't know if that super brief explanation makes any sense, but I liked the way it turned out. :)

Supplies
Stamps: Paper Smooches (Chit Chat)
Ink: Memento (London Fog)
Cardstock: PTI (Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, Lavender Moon, White)
Other: PTI (Tag Sale #5 Die), Pretty Pink Posh (twine)

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Father's Day Sequin Shaker

**This is my second post today.  Scroll down or click here to see my first shaker card.
Hi!  I'm back again with another card that I made for the Pretty Pink Posh Sequin Shaker Blog Hop.  I probably should space my posts out, but I was too excited not to share this today.  This was actually the first idea that I sketched out for the Sequin Shaker Blog Hop, but I thought it would be more complicated than the second idea I had (I totally thought wrong), so I made it last.  This one came together much quicker and turned out exactly how I had sketched it out (yay!).  I die cut the letters with Papertrey's Headline Alphabet dies, stamped the sentiment with Winnie & Walter's The Big, the Bold, and the Happy (I LOVE this set...one of my best purchases ever), and mixed some of Stampin' Up's watercolor crayons together to make a minty color for the flicks of color.  The shaker part is filled with silver stars and fresh mint sequins from Pretty Pink Posh and it is such a fun combo.  I popped the whole panel up and added a stamped stripe panel underneath.  The twine was the final touch.  I love clean and simple cards, so I'm entering this into Simon Says Stamp Keep It Clean & Simple Wednesday Challenge as well.
 
Oh, and the quality of the next picture is pretty poor...it's been dark and rainy all day, but I had to include it because you can see the little star sequins better, and I think they are so fun.  Thanks so much for visiting!  It makes me happy that I can share something I love with others. :)
Supplies
Stamps: PTI (Background Basics: Super Stripes), Winnie & Walter (The Big, the Bold, and the Happy)
Ink: Memento (London Fog)
Paper: PTI (stamper's select white)
Other: PTI (Headline Alphabet Die, Headline Numbers Die, clear case), Pretty Pink Posh (fresh mint and silver star sequins, grey twine), SU! (aqua painter, watercolor crayons)

Ice Cream Shaker

Hello!  I know, can you believe it?  Three days in a row. :) I haven't been this excited about a card in a long time.  Paulina of Pretty Pink Posh announced that she was going to host a Sequin Shaker Blog Hop bout a month ago.

I think shaker cards are oodles of fun, so I really wanted to participate.  As I looked at the inspiration photo for Curtain Call's Confetti Crush Challenge, the confetti filled cones reminded me of ice-cream cones, and that is what inspired my card.  Plus I feel like sequins are a natural interpretation of confetti, so it seemed to be the perfect pairing of challenges.  Plus the polka dots helped with the confetti feel...at least in my opinion.  (Sadly, though, I didn't get the card posted in time and Curtain Call's Challenge is closed.)  I wanted the shaker element to take center stage, so I kept the layout CAS and am happy that it works for this week's Simon Says Stamp Keep It Clean & Simple Wednesday Challenge. 
This card took a long time to make, but it's one that I think I could recreate in half the time or less from what I learned in the process. The die cutting was the trickiest because the ice cream scoop and cone are all one die, so I had to do a lot of partial cuts, but it was totally worth it.  I was also reminded of how much I love Pretty Pink Posh's sequins and Winnie & Walter's The Big, the Bold, and the Happy sentiment set -- both of which I feel like could be paired with just about anything.  And I just love how this card turned out!  This will probably be one that I send my sister because she saves all of my cards, which is fun because then I can look at them later. It's a great way to part with those "hard to part with" cards. :)

Supplies
Stamps: PTI (Polka Dot Basics, Sweet As Can Be), Winnie & Walter (The Big, the Bold, and the Happy)
Ink: PTI (aqua mist, kraft, lemon tart), VersaMark
Paper: Michael's (shimmery velum), PTI (aqua mist, lavender moon, lemon tart, white)
Other: PTI (Fabulous Frames die, Sweet As Can Be die, clear case), Pretty Pink Posh (sparkling clear sequins), SU! (white embossing powder)

Friday, April 25, 2014

CAS PTI April Blog Hop


 
I'm so happy to be here today!  Honestly, I didn't think I'd be able to make a card in time, but woohoo...I did!  I'm guessing my card won't exactly "fit" with a lot of the beautiful embroidered creations I anticipate seeing, but this is how it came to be.  When I saw Nichole's gorgeous inspiration board full of ornate embroidered loveliness for Papertrey's April Blog Hop I was excited but a little intimidated.  
I took comfort in Nichole's statement "no stitching required", but I actually really wanted to stitch something.  I didn't think I could recreate any of the pictures featured in the collage and certainly couldn't even attempt to do so without first learning some stitches...I only know one. Ha!  I visited Pinterest for some help and found this:
Source: Needle'nThread
It totally reminded me of PTI's Sew Simple Borders Mini Set, so instead of actually looking at any of the stitch tutorials, I made this very CAS rainbow stitch card.  And it makes me smile.  I finally was able to use a circle on a card (I just used it as a mask, but since I struggle with circles in general, I'm still happy about it) and I used some of my rarely used supplies.  As an added bonus, I get to link this up to Simon Says Keep It Clean & Simple Wednesday Challenge.  Thanks for taking a look!  It isn't the pretty embroidered creation I dreamed up in my head that certainly had a flower somewhere, but maybe that card will come to fruition, too...on another day. :) No doubt I will see lots of those lovely kinds of creations as I'm hoping to hop around a bit in the next few days to see what everyone else made.  Have the happiest weekend, friends!
Supplies (all PTI unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: On My Couch, Sew Simple Borders Mini Set
Paper: Stamper's Select White
Ink: Hawaiian Shores, Raspberry Fizz, True Black; Green Galore, Orchid Opulence, Pumpkin Pie, Yo-yo Yellow (SU!)

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Forever Poppies (Clearly Besotted & Simon Says Challenges)

Hello, again!  When I made my last card, I realized that nearly every card I've entered in a Clearly Besotted Challenge had some kind of watercoloring on it.  Because these stamps are beautiful on their own, I decided to make another card for CB's Spring Challenge.

This card has actually been several weeks in the making.  I knew the design and purpose long ago, and it was CB's Spring challenge that helped me select the stamps to use.  I wanted extra saturated colors, so I stamped each of the flowers two or three times, which was really easy to do because these stamps are super easy to line up.  Please excuse the dark photo...I almost didn't post this card at all because when I glued the arrangement down, some of the elements shifted and I'm a bit bugged by how it turned out.  However, I recently read a post by Jennifer McGuire about what she does with cards she doesn't love and realized posting this will hopefully help me show growth.  And yes, I'm sending it, too. I'll probably try to CASE myself soon, though, so I can get the card to turn out just as I had hoped. :) I'm also entering this into the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Keep it Clean & Simple.  I could have gone a bit more clean and simple, but the flowers looked so much prettier popped up, so ultimately I added the dimension.  Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a beautiful weekend!

Supplies
Stamps: Clearly Besotted (Remember)
Paper: PTI (white), SU! (red)
Ink: PTI (harvest gold, new leaf, pure poppy, summer sunrise, true black), SU! (pumpkin pie)
Dies: CB (Remember), PTI (Linen & Canvas Impression Plate)

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

An Early Mother's Day Card...

It's been forever since I've made a card, and yesterday I just couldn't take it any more.  I've missed creating.  I didn't feel awesome, but I pulled out some stamps anyway.  I had my eye on Clearly Besotted Challenge #10: Spring and Curtain Call Challenge: Confetti Crush, but didn't have the time to really ponder a layout, so I visited Pinterest.  Instead of finding a layout idea, I found this beautiful piece of art.
Source: Illustration by Margaret Berg
Nothing says spring to me like flowers, and the flowers in Clearly Besotted's Remember set were perfect to recreate this look.  To create the card I inked up a solid flower image, stamped the flower on a sheet of acetate, spritzed it with water, and then pressed the acetate onto the white piece of cardstock.  I wiped the acetate sheet after each use, but not super thoroughly so each time I stamped a new flower and transferred the image to the cardstock, hints of the previous colors got transferred in other areas as well.  The look and size of the flowers changed depending on how much water I spritzed on the image and how much the acetate sheet wiggled when I pressed the spritzed image on the cardstock. Each flower turned out differently, but I think that's what I like the most about it.
The Curtain Call Challenge inspired my color palette as well as the splattered dots...that's my interpretation of confetti.  The aqua dots are a little hard to see, but they are indeed there.
After all the ink dried (which didn't take long), I went back in with a black pen and drew some very sketchy leaves.  Then I inked up the line drawn flowers in CB's Remember set and stamped just a few images in black.  I stamped the flower centers in various colors and finished the card off with a sentiment from Winnie & Walter's The Big, the Bold, and the Happy set.
This was actually my practice sheet, but I figured I could never recreate the exact same thing, so I just trimmed down the white panel to fit on a card and backed it with hibiscus burst cardstock.  My mom's favorite color is pink, so it worked out perfectly.  I know it's been so quiet around here lately, and I'm not sure if any one even really looks at my blog anymore, so thank you if you stopped by today!
Supplies
Stamps: Clearly Besotted (Remember), Winnie & Walter (The Big, the Bold, and the Happy)
Ink: PTI (hibiscus burst, pure poppy, summer sunrise, true black), SU! (orchid opulence)
Cardstock: PTI (hibiscus burst), Recollections (white)
Other: SU! (aqua painter, watercolor wonder crayon), black pen