Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #2

Happy Tuesday! But oh, I wish it was Friday! I am beat. I had a wonderful weekend with my college roommates and I am so glad they came into town (but I'm tired!) We are the Four Musketeers, the Fantastic Four, the Four Amigos! We have been friends since our freshman year of college and these are the peeps I turn to when I need a boost. They are the sisters I never had (I love these girls, can't you tell?)

Becca is expecting her first baby, and the other girls congregated in town for her baby shower. Here's a photo of us. We can't just take normal pictures, you know ;)
From L to R we have Julie (she lives in Los Angeles), me, Becca and her adorable baby belly, her sister Abbey, and Dina (she lives in Virginia). I miss them already.

But that's not why you're here! You're here to see the card I made for Dawn's second Raspberry Suite Color Challenge!
 More fabulous colors to work with. Here's my card:

I used Spring Moss, Ocean Tides, Dark Chocolate and SS White cardstock. Ovals were cut using the plain and scalloped large oval nestabilities. The stamps are from Pine's Beyond Basic Borders set - I stamped the branch image twice and cut out just the leaves, adhering them to the card with foam tape. Added some adhesive pearls and sponging for a finishing touch. The finished size is 4 1/2 inches square. More details are in my recipe below.

What do you think? I'd love to hear from you!
Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe:
All supplies from Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted :)
Stamps:
Beyond Basic Borders
Cardstock: Spring Moss, Ocean Tides, Dark Chocolate, SS White
Ink: Spring Moss, Dark Chocolate, Antique Linen (Ranger)
Other: Oval, Scalloped oval dies (Spellbinders), adhesive pearls (Michaels)

Monday, March 30, 2009

Stamped Tile Coasters

One of my favorite things to make are stamped tile coasters. I find the tiles at any Big Box home store (Home Depot or Lowe's in my area) for around $5 for a box of 9.

The first project I thought of for PTI's Blog Hop was a set of stamped coasters using the Guide Lines Two set.


Aren't they pretty? All inks are PTI, and I have found that with a coat of clear spray paint (I like Krylon's #1311 Clear Matte Finish) they are water and spill resistant.

One thing I love about using these coasters is the worn, rustic look you get from stamping on the very imperfect surface. It reminds of something I would see in a Tuscan village! (I've never been to Tuscany, but its what I would imagine! ;)

These make great gifts (they are one of my craft show best-sellers) and are really easy to do!

Thanks so much for stopping by, I look forward to seeing you tomorrow! I have a baby gift to share with you.



Recipe:
Stamps:
Guide Lines, Guide Lines Two - PTI
Ink: Ocean Tides, Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy, Summer Sunrise, Dark Chocolate - PTI
Other: Tile

Wow!

I am truly honored to have been chosen as one of the ten In The Spotlight color challenge participants on Dawn McVey's blog! Wow! Dawn's work is just awesome, so it is so exciting for me to have been chosen by her! She's a celebrity, you know! ;)

Anyway, my weekend was busy busy! My old college roommates converged on my house for the weekend and we talked, and ate, and shopped until we couldn't anymore. So I apologize for the lack of blogging. But I have a post coming up later today with another project I made for the Papertrey Blog Hop.

I hope you will stop back!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

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.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

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


Monday, March 23, 2009

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