Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Papertrey Ink June Blog Hop: A Touch of Gold

This month's PTI Blog Hop Challenge is about gold.  Now I am not a gold gal so I was thinking this was going to be a difficult challenge for me.  But my first thought was to use the gorgeous PTI Cover Plate: Twist Die and gold card stock for my background and it just took off from there.  I got my June PTI order yesterday just in time to also use a number of dies and stamps for this card.  All materials listed below.

The inspiration:



The result:  For the gold I used a luscious gold card stock from Club Scrap for the Twist Die Cover Plate and gold embossing powder for the border above and below the sentiment.  In the proper light the gold is very elegant.  I think I am liking gold again!








Materials:

All dies Papertrey Ink:  Mat Stack 6, Boutique Borders, Cover Plate - Twist Die
All stamps Papertrey Ink: Boutique Borders - Thanks Stamp Set
All card stock Club Scrap: Birds of a Feather Blue,  Pure & Simple Black, Ornamental Semi-gloss Ivory, Club Scrap Gold

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Busy Day!

Yes busy day today.  Going with my son to Stanford University to watch the Drum Corp International Competition.  This is a tradition of ours.   But I made this card last night and wanted to throw it up here since it will be my only chance for a day or two.

Sizzix coffee bean embossing folder, The Stamps of Life "Coffee4Two" and "Labels2Use" and Paper Smooches "Cyber Cafe" sentiment.

Gotta go...





Thursday, June 20, 2013

Feather Card Revisited and More

I have returned with a slightly improved card from my early morning creativity session and an additional one that I am very happy with.  Actually I am happy now with the first one also.

So beginning with my first feather card....that yellow card base is really a nice green but it is coming across rather a nasty yellow.  IRL it's a nice color combo.  The additions are the skinny little shafts that are also from the feather die.  This is the shaft of the arrow.  Because I cut out so many complete feather dies (I have not separated the individual dies) I ended up with a dozen or more of these.  I was about to toss them when I realized they would enhance the feathers.  So I am now happy with this card too.




Next I needed to make an OCAM for my Paper Artists Online group.  This is one of those cards that just came together in a flash.  My favorite part is the "shadow" of the large feather on the sentiment.  I used the inside of the die cut as a stencil.  I am very pleased with it and hope the recipient will be also.  I am adding some separate feathers to her card for her to play with.



Feathers!

I am up way too late to be very descriptive other than I received my MFT order today and have I got some awesome goodies.  Feather dies being one of them not to mention assorted stamps.

I gleefully made a pile of feathers earlier this evening...or I should say yesterday...Yikes...it's nearly 1am.  Okay I have to hurry.

Made feathers...made a card a few minutes ago because I just had to before going to bed.  Not my best effort  and just grabbed whatever paper and ink was near me, nor very imaginative but I LOVE these feathers.  Maybe later today I will elaborate.

Meanwhile:




Good night!

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Playing Around with Chalkboard Style

Chalkboard stamping is hot right now.  It's a fun look and the fonts are very playful.  I found a 12x12 pad of chalkboard paper made by DCWV that has an interesting, slightly gritty finish to it.  Using it for the sentiment and card base, I played around with stamps from My Favorite Things, Color Box Frosted White pigment ink, patterned paper and washi tape from my stash.


Father's Day Cards

Happy Father's Day everyone.  I hope you all had an enjoyable day one way or another being with family, friends and enjoying a dad's company or remembrance of one.  My own dad passed away exactly 10 years ago tomorrow.  I had one of the most wonderful days with him, just the two of us.  The following day he was gone.  I am so blessed to have had that special day with him.  Every day with him was special.  He was a dear one.

Today was a nice laid back kind of day with my sweet husband Bob and our son Charley.  We were visited by Bob's daughter, her DH and 1 year old son via Facetime.  Technology is a wonder.

Charley and I both made cards to present to Bob today.  Bob has become quite the woodworker and recently acquired a vast amount of walnut wood from a friend's ranch, which is in the drying out process now.  It was quite a few weeks of hard work with a lot of help, bringing these 90 year old trees down, prepping them for cutting, milling the huge trunks, delivering half of the wood to our home and storing it.  So woodworking and walnut wood was our theme.

First Charley's card.  He is so clever and learned years ago that we make our cards...never buy them.   He is very handy with graphics.  He also hand writes a message as well which is nearly invisible on the left half.








And then mine:  This is also doubling for my friend Jen's monthly card sketch challenge at Club Scrap. It gave me a great beginning to this card and worked perfectly with the collage stamp from Club Scrap's Dashing collection.  With it's ruler, measurements and blueprint look it was the ideal stamp to reflect all the work that Bob has been doing with his building.

He was really pleased with both cards.

This card begins with the left triangular flap, opening to a right flap and finally unfolding to the inside which isn't shown here.  Too mushy for public display, LOL.




Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Papertrey Ink MIM #120: Overlapping Ombre

I like the ombre look but had not tried it.  So I thought how fun that this is this week's PTI challenge.   Still a bit limited in my PTI collection but diligently working on that I selected two stamps from the gorgeous set Mendhi Medallions.   These stamps are truly amazing in the details that show up.  I just love this stamp!

Card base is Kraft cardstock from Club Scrap.  All stamps are PTI.  I stamped the large medallion in Distress Ink Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge and Ripe Persimmons.  Then stamped the smaller medallions in the same inks and punched out with a 1 1/8" punch adhering them to the card with foam tape.  Sentiment is from PTI Mat Stack 2.   The small medallions and card base are edged in whatever last brown Distress Ink I used with my applicator, LOL.

This is a simple card but I do like how the colors blend.


Sunday, June 9, 2013

PTI June Color Challenge

Papertrey Ink's June Color Challenge is a mix of blues with a green and cream.  Not my usual colors to start out with but it was fun to go through my stash of Club Scrap card stock and see what I have.  I think I came pretty close to the colors being called for.  I used another challenge from Paper Artists Online using an interesting folding card and combined the two challenges in order to submit to both.  My opinion on this card is still out on this one.  I think it's because I was trying to do two different looks and combine them, which may or may not have worked.

But as always, I had fun experimenting and crafting.  I don't expect myself to make a masterpiece each time I sit down at my craft desk.  The very fact that I am making anything is a good reason to be happy and enjoy the process.

All paper is from various Club Scrap collections.  Stamps are from Papertrey Ink's Happiness in Bloom and the die is their Mat Stack 2 die.   I used Distress Paint Antiqued Bronze for the majority of stamping plus Distress Ink Blue Sapphire and Old Paper.



Thursday, June 6, 2013

Jen's PAO June Card Sketch Challenge

Jen's selection of sketches are always terrific and get my creative mojo moving.  Very simple use of three circles and a border is our challenge this month.


http://www.paperartistsonline.com/forum/download/file.php?id=19033
file.php


The results:

Background is a stamp from Club Scrap's Vogue collection.  All other stamps and dies are from Simon Says Stamp Flower Friend kit.



Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Lemonade2drink - The Card

Today The Stamps of Life, June stamp set arrived!  This will be such a fun summertime collection to use for  cards and scrapbook pages for picnics, 4th of July, parties and so much more.  So tonight I had to drop everything and make a card with this set.

To begin with all patterned papers are from a 6x6 Teresa Collin's collection: Carolina Breeze.  Fresh yellows and shades of grey seemed the perfect backdrop with a little paper piecing for this card.  All stamps are from the Lemonade2drink set.  The punched edge of the card was made with a Martha Stewart border punch.  The sentiment " 'sour' you?" (so how are you?) is stamped on a layered die cut set from TSOL's Postage Dies.

I attempted to make the glass look like it was filled with lemonade only part way with the darker top portion being just the glass.  The lemon was stamped and cut out then attached to the glass rim.



Monday, June 3, 2013

Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday #119 "Flagged Borders"

Today's challenge is to use banners.  I like the look of banners but haven't used them very much.  I do not have any banner style dies so I hand cut them all.  Generally I also don't make very fussy cards but this challenge was a great way to use up some 6x6 paper pads with coordinating patterned papers.

All patterned papers are from Echo Park's Victoria Garden collection.  I used the Papertrey Ink Mat Stack 2 die cut shape and then stamped the ends with a corner flourish from the Mat Stack 2 stamp set.  Happy Birthday is from their Happiness in Bloom stamp set.  The top border strip was punched out with a border punch from Martha Stewart.

I created the blotches on the white card stock by dabbing Distress Stains' Victorian Velvet and Bundled Sage onto a craft mat.  Then just laid the card front onto the stains and lifted straight up so as not to smear the colors.  I like how it gives a floral feeling background.




Hoping to do more of these.