Papertrey March Blog Hop

Its Blog Hop time! Thank you for stopping by to visit - it has been a while since I've played, and I'm so glad to get back into it.

I have always been attracted to art nouveau patterns, and Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Roses have been a favorite.  I took the rose pattern as a starting point for my project.  I love building backgrounds, and pulled images out of a number of different stamp sets to put this one together.  Check my recipe below for a list of the materials used. I thought Ocean Tides, Aqua Mist, Sweet Blush, and Hibiscus Burst would be perfect together.  Here's my finished paper before I added it to my card.

You can see I had a little oops there in the bottom corner, but no biggie, my paper was going to be trimmed down for my card.  I chose to go with a larger size card (finished size is 3 1/2 by 7 1/2) so I could showcase that pretty paper (you can click on the photos for a larger view).

I trimmed my background paper and shabbied it up with some Antique Linen distress ink. I wanted to keep everything else nice and simple, and just added a small strip of Sweet Blush to the top before tying a Hibiscus Burst ribbon around it. The sentiment is from the Mega Mixed Messages set (*love it*) and is stamped on a Spellbinders Double Ended Tag, which I trimmed down to size. I added a coordinating Hibiscus Burst button, and I called it done!  I am very pleased with the result, and I know my mom will love it too.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, I hope you'll come by again soon. I have another project I created for the Blog Hop but put on the back burner when I made this beauty. Stop by tomorrow and I'll share the deets on that one!

Have fun hopping!

Supplies:
Stamps: Flower - With Sympathy, Flourish - Remember, Circle - Simply Stationary, Dot Cluster - Borders and Corners Circle, Mother - Mega Mixed Messages
Cardstock: Ocean Tides, Sweet Blush, SS White
Ink: Ocean Tides, Sweet Blush, Hibiscus Burst, Aqua Mist, Antique Linen (Ranger Distress Ink)
Other: Hibiscus Burst Luxe Satin Ribbon, Hibiscus Burst Vintage Button, Spellbinders Double Ended Tag, string.

Wishing You..

Wishing You is another set I fell in love with this month. I whipped up a quick card using it last night.

The colors remind me of some things we saw this past weekend at Phipps' Spring Flower Show.

Lovely! Soon I hope to see some of these in my own yard. As for the card, it is pretty straightforward, but my recipe is below if you like details. Hopefully I can figure out why my photos are turning out so dark... that's what we get for playing with the camera. My hubby and I are big fans of photo-taking.. we're not experts, but we have a digital camera and take lots of photos - that's what they're for! ;)

Two days of blogging in a row! I'm impressed with myself. I've even got my act together to participate in PTI's Blog Hop tomorrow!

I hope you stop back. Thanks for visiting!



Supplies:
Stamps: Wishing You (PTI)
Ink: Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, Melon Berry, New Leaf, Plum Pudding, Dark Chocolate (PTI), Orangerie (Palette)
Paper: New Leaf, Melon Berry, SS Vintage Cream (PTI)
Other: Spellbinders Label 1, glitter

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #1

Yes, I know. I am a bad blogger. But life sometimes has its own plans, and you just have to go with the flow. Anyway, I've been wanting to get back into it to keep my creativity motivated, so there's no better time than the present. And there's no better motivation than a color challenge! Dawn McVey has posted her first Raspberry Suite Color Challenge:

I thought it was a perfect opportunity for me to bust out my brand spankin' new Guide Lines Two stamp set from PTI. I really had a lot of fun using it.

Thanks for the color challenge, Dawn! I look forward to the next one! And thanks for stopping by!



Supplies:
Stamps: Guide Lines Two, First Fruits, Damask Designs, Polka Dot Basics (PTI)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron (SU!), Antique Linen, Vintage Photo Distress Ink (Ranger)
Paper: Chocolate Chip (SU), SS White (PTI)
Other: EK Success Dotted Scallop edge punch, Spellbinders Double Ended Tag, Button

Halloween Fun

For those of you visiting because of my email, here are the goodies:

The candles:


The test tubes:


This is the green and black sets. There is also an orange and a purple. Sorry for the poor quality of the photos. Let me know if you see anything that you like!

Boho Square

Another quickie for you today. We made this card at one of my previous Stamp Camps. It's hip to be square! (I crack myself up :)

The card base is a 4-1/4 square piece of Old Olive stamped with the same color ink with the Stitched background stamp. The colored squares (Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, and Regal Rose) are stamped with 2 of the Boho Background stamps and then punched out with a 1 inch square punch. They are layered together on a piece of textured Old Olive cardstock. The flower is punched from the 5-petal flower punch. So easy! The color combination came from the 'trendy' color combos SU! highlights in the beginning of the catalog. It could be changed up with pretty much anything! So many possibilities!

I'm excited tonight to be starting another Stamp Club. I have so many other stamps and products that I would love to share with my stamping buddies, and they seem to be just as excited to be shared with! Have a great night!



Supplies:

Stamps: Boho Backgrounds, Stitched (SU!)
Paper: Old Olive, Old Olive textured, Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink (SU)
Ink: Old Olive, Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Regal Rose
Accessories: copper brad

Ahoy Little Sailor!

I'm back with another card! I'm on a roll!

I made this card for a co-worker of mine who had a little boy not too long ago. I love this little boat from PTI's Bitty Baby Blessings!

The card base is Real Red, followed by a layer of Brocade Blue that has been embossed with the Tiny Bubbles Cuttlebug embossing folder. The horizontal strip is Night of Navy, and I added some faux stitching with my paper piercer and white gel pen. The little boat image is paper pieced from Sahara Sand, Brocade Blue (that had been stamped with the Polka Dot Basics stamp set) and Real Red. This was layered onto PTI SS White and then Sahara Sand. The card measures 4-1/4 square. The cutie sentiment is also from Bitty Baby Blessings stamped in Brocade Blue ink. Easy, simple card! Thanks for stopping by!



Supplies:

Stamps: Bitty Baby Blessings, Polka Dot Basics (PTI)
Paper: Real Red, Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, Sahara Sand (SU!), Stampers Select White (PTI)
Ink: Palette Noir, Brocade Blue (SU!)
Accessories: Paper piercer, white gel pen

Poppies

I knew that it had been a while since my last post, but I didn't realize it had been that long. I apologize, life sometimes gets away from me. But I'm back and feeling creative and inspired again and hopefully I can ride that for a little while.

I am going to share a project that I made this weekend. I have been wanting to make a soldered piece ever since I saw this piece that Debbie Olson had made. If you don't read Debbie's blog, then you must go there NOW and every day after today. Her work is amazing! Seriously.

I have played with stained glass before, so the whole soldering thing wasn't new to me. But what a great way to take stamping to the next level.

Here's what I made using Stampendous' Poppy Stems.



The image was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and then colored with my Copics (which I love so, so much). I cut the image down to fit inside the 2x2 piece of Memory Glass. I didn't have a hanger or jump ring for the top, so I used a square paperclip. It has a different look to it... and as much as I hoped it wouldn't look like a paperclip.. it still does :) Oh well! I picked some yummy orange American Crafts ribbon to hang it from and off it went to my friend Julie for her birthday (I hope I didn't spoil your surprise!)

So what do you think? I think I will be doing this more often. I really like the way it turned out, and my mind is just buzzing with all the other things I can solder!

I promise I will be back with more tomorrow! Thanks for hanging in there!



Supplies:
Stamps: Poppy Stems (Stampendous)
Paper: PTI SS White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copic Ciao markers, 2x2 Memory Glass, Soldering supplies

Mom's Pond

My mom has a big koi pond in her backyard. It started out small and then the next year my brother and I were recruited to dig it a little bigger and then the next year we brought some friends and dug it a little bigger.. it is about 1,000 gallons now and its been a while since it has been expanded.

When PTI came out with the Pond Life set, I knew that I needed it for cards for my mom. This is the card I made her for Mother's Day:

This is my favorite card sketch right now. I have a few more cards I've made over the past few days using the same sketch.

The card base is PTI Spring Moss. The patterned paper is from the Everyday Blessings pack. For my little pond scene, I started by sponging Aqua Mist for water and Soft Sky for the sky. I stamped the grass in Spring Moss and the swirl of water in Aqua Mist. The lilypad was stamped on Old Olive in Old Olive and cut out. The water lily was stamped in Pixie Dust and Pink Petunia VersaMagic. The frog was stamped in Sage VersaMagic and also cut out. Finally, I stamped the dragonfly body in Pearlescent Sky Blue and the wings in Pearlescent Starlite Black. Then I layered two vellum wings to make him look like he just landed! I used lots of foam tape to add dimension. This piece was layered on a piece of Old Olive. I added some Green Ivy Dew Drops to the side and added the sentiment.

That's it! My mom loved it and I know I will be using this set again for her!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a great night.



Card supplies:

Stamps: Pond Life (PTI)
Paper: Spring Moss, SS White, Everyday Blessings patterned (PTI), Old Olive (SU)
Ink: Spring Moss, Aqua Mist (Palette for PTI), Old Olive (SU), Pixie Dust, Pink Petunia, Sage, Midnight Black (Tsukineko VersaMagic), Pearlescent Sky Blue, Pearlescent Starlite Black (Tsukineko Brilliance)
Accessories: Green Ivy Dew Drops

Monday, Monday

I am a big fan of the Discovery Channel. One of my favorite shows, of course, is Dirty Jobs. The show's time slot is moving to Mondays and the commercial for it features the song Monday, Monday written by The Mamas and the Papas. Hence, today's title because the song gets stuck in my head every. single. Monday.

I do have a card to share with you, but before that a little jabber about my weekend. On Saturday night, Bill and I went to see Jason Deutsch play. Jason is a fantastic musician, and the brother of a dear friend of mine (hi Josette!). Jason played at mine and Bill's wedding, so that was the coolest of the cool. Jason is awesome, his songs are incredible, and he is such a sweetheart. He was promoting his new cd release called Peaceful Oblivion. Everyone: go see him and buy his music! Seriously, we need to support our local musicians.

Ok, so here's my card:

I made this for Mary when I sent her the Anniversary Set that she won. I used the small cross stamp from Simple Little Things and stamped some patterned paper. I used Summer Sunrise and Cognac Palette Ink. Then I sponged on a little Ranger Distress Ink in Old Paper. This was then layered onto a piece of Summer Sunrise cardstock that had been paper pierced. I stamped the larger cross from Simple Little Things in Summer Sunrise, Cognac, and Burnt Umber and cut them all out. I layered them on top of each other and added a copper brad. Its like a big ol' fancy flower. The sentiment is also from Simple Little Things. It reads 'So Happy For You' but I just inked up what I wanted. The card base is Chocolate Chip. That's it! Easy as pie.

Enjoy your evening. Thanks for stopping by - I'd love to hear from you!



Card supplies:

Stamps: Simple Little Things (PTI Anniversary Set)
Paper: Chocolate Chip (SU), Summer Sunrise, SS White (PTI)
Ink: Summer Sunrise (PTI), Cognac, Burnt Umber (Palette), Distress Ink Old Paper (Ranger)
Accessories: Paper piercer, copper brad

Two Lovely RAKs

I just love getting RAKs in the mail. I have two that I received recently.

The first is from Mary - she was the winner of my Anniversary set giveaway. I love the multi-colored flowers and the combination of Summer Sunrise and Berry Sorbet. Mary, thank you so much for the thank you card, I love it!



The second card is from Jackie (Teal on the PTI forum). She sent me this beautiful RAK using Berry Sorbet and the Butterfly Kisses stamp set. I love all the polka dots. Thank you, Jackie, for the sweet sparkly card!



Its another hockey night here in Pittsburgh, so I'm not stamping again. Maybe I should have stamped.. this game isn't turning out so well! Hope your night turns out better!