Pretty Pink Posh: Halloween Plaid

Good morning!  I've been anxious all week to share this card with you. I had so much fun creating it last weekend, and I'm super excited because this card could be recreated for oodles of other occasions.  Simply swap out the sentiment and change up the color scheme.

Another great thing is that you need very few supplies to make it, just the Simple Strips dies and Boo stamp set from Pretty Pink Posh.  Now, I'll tell you right up front that you are going to want to cut more strips of paper than you would think you need.  Having multiples in every size makes it much easier to create your design.  I believe I ran each of the four colors through at least 3 or 4 times. I then took that giant pile of paper strips and sorted them into sizes.  

It's best to lay your largest strips down first.  I started with orange and roughly made a box.  Then, I added in the purple, gray, and finally the black.  I had a pattern in mind, but partially through I just abandoned ship and started sticking strips here and there until I was satisfied.  I did try to maintain some repeating elements. 

I ended up with three layers of strips.  To keep them all together, I covered the whole thing with press 'n seal, then flipped it over and used strips of double sided tape to hold it all together.  Because the pattern overlaps so much, it was actually easy to do.  I would recommend the strips of tape over liquid adhesive because the tape provided some extra stability.  Once everything was secured I adhered the strips to a square piece of cardstock and trimmed off all the overhanging edges.  

The pattern was bold enough that I knew I needed to keep the sentiment simple, so I inked up just the beginning of the sentiment in the Boo stamp set. 

And done!  Minus the slight panic I felt when initially I wasn't sure how to adhere everything together, this card was extremely satisfying to make...almost therapeutic actually.  I hope you'll give it a try.  Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you are enjoying a lovely weekend.

Pretty Pink Posh - Halloween Backgrounds

Hello, friends!  Fall is officially here and my children are asking to decorate for Halloween, so I figure that it is time that my cardmaking reflects the season change, too.  I love Halloween, but the cute, fun parts - pumpkins, the changing leaves, the joy of a child dressing up.  This card embodies all of those things. 

Another thing I love is stamping backgrounds, so why not combine all the things I love onto one card?  I pulled images from Pretty Pink Posh's Boo and Autumn Wreath stamp sets and stamped away starting with the largest images first and filling in with the smaller ones.  

I love how freeing this kind of stamping is.  No precision needed. :)  This is also a classic autumn color combo that I come back to year after year.  I used inks from a variety of companies: marmalade (Concord & 9th), really rust (Stampin' Up), onyx black (Versafine), honey drizzle and silver stone (Altenew).

I finished the card off by die cutting the smaller rectangle in Pretty Pink Posh's Storybook 5 die and embossing a sentiment from their Boo stamp set.  I did mask the sentiment a bit to use just "Happy Halloween".  It makes me happy when I think to do things like that.  Such a simple way to stretch your stamps. 

Happy sigh.  I'm smiling big here.  I have a few more cards using these stamp sets made, so stay tuned. Have a happy week, friends!

Pretty Pink Posh Pond Life

Hello!  Today's card just makes me smile.  Pretty Pink Posh stamps seem to have that effect on me, and their Pond Life Stamp Set is one of my favorites.  I almost always create my cards with a specific recipient in mind, and today's card is for one of my kiddos, so that makes it a little extra special.  

To create my card, I stamped, die cut, and colored several images from Pretty Pink Posh's Pond Life Stamp Set with Prismacolor pencils. I wanted the pond water to be more subtle, so I decided to blend the ink onto the background.  I created a stencil by flipping the cloud die cut from Pretty Pink Posh's Nature Essentials upside down.  Then, I blended on The Stamp Market's Sea Glass Ink.  It created gentle waves all across the background.

I used the Storybook 5 Die, building the scene on the top half and stamping a sentiment from PPP's Simple Sentiments Stamp Set on the lower half.  The Storybook 5 Die only cuts the windows and embosses the outside stitching, so in order to create a frame with the colored cardstock, I trimmed just outside the embossed lines after I cut it.  

Finally, I wanted a little more dimension on the card base, so I used Pretty Pink Posh's Simple Strips dies to cut several strips of varying widths.  Then I adhered them to the card base with the narrowest strips at the top and widest strips at the bottom.

Though still clean and simple, this card has a lot more going on than my typical cards.  And yet I love that this sweet frog still remains the clear focus.  Isn't he just the cutest?  Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!

PPP: Teacher Thank You

 

Good morning!  Thank you cards are my favorites to make, and this particular card fills my heart with so much gratitude.  Trying to figure out what to do for school this fall has been so difficult, but the different teachers and principals we have worked with have been absolutely wonderful.  I have been amazed at their willingness to work with us to figure out the best learning option for each of our children.  In fact one of the principals and I spoke almost daily for two weeks as we went back and forth trying to find the best fit for one of my children.  Her effort and care on our behalf was most definitely above and beyond, so I knew I needed to send her a special thank you.

I stamped multiple images from Pretty Pink Posh's School Friends stamp set to create the background.  I really wanted to use Pretty Pink Posh's Thankful For You Script Dies for the sentiment (I LOVE their script dies!), but it just seemed to get lost on the busy background.  I hemmed and hawed for a bit trying to figure out what to do, and finally after 3 or 4 failed attempts I remembered vellum.  Placing a piece of vellum on top softened the background just enough for the script to stand out.  I'm actually really liking black and white these days, but I paper pieced one apple for just a pop of color. 

I've always been grateful for educators, but this year my admiration, respect, and gratitude for them has swelled so much.  I have a feeling I am going to need more teacher thank yous this year than any before.  I hope you enjoy a wonderful weekend.  Thanks for stopping by today!

PPP: Hibiscus Flowers Part 2

Hello!  Do you remember this card I shared last week?  Well, I'm happy to say I can now share it's birthday companion.  My mom and a dear friend share the same birthday.  They are both wonderful women who I think share many of the same admirable qualities.  It is a joy creating cards for people I love so much. 

 

Though this card uses Pretty Pink Posh's Hibiscus Flowers cut in Concord & 9th's honeysuckle, grapefruit, clover, and sprout cardstocks again, I like to think it turned out quite different than the first.  When I look at it I see a tropical bouquet.  Wouldn't it be fun to get one of those? 

I did not want to take away from the beautiful flowers, so Pretty Pink Posh's new Simple Sentiments Stamp Set was just perfect. I embossed the sentiment on black cardstock and used Pretty Pink Posh's Simple Strips dies to cut it out.  And let me tell you...I can see these dies coming in handy a lot!

I can't help but smile when I see these cards together.  I think I could create over and over again with this stamp set in these same colors and be perfectly happy. 

I'm always so grateful when you take the time to visit!.  Thank you!  I hope you are headed into a wonderful weekend, friends!