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!

Groovy Flower

Thanks to everyone that stopped by during PTI's Blog Hop. Your kind comments were very appreciated. It was also great to have a chance to look at everyone else's projects - they were all fantastic. I am looking forward to next month's Hop!

Again, I apologize for the sporadic blogging. I was so proud of myself there for a while since I was doing a good job of posting everyday. My job has been pretty overwhelming recently, and I am wrapped up in playoff hockey, so I haven't been very motivated. The card I am going to share today is one that we made at Stamp Camp. It has a very simple layout, but it was one of my favorites.

The card base is a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock. Layered on top of that is a strip of Afternoon Tea Designer Series Double-Sided paper. I pulled the colors from the patterned paper for the main image. The stamp set is Live Your Dream, from the Occasions Mini Catalog. Instead of directly inking my stamp, I used my Aqua Painter and painted the ink onto the stamp. I huffed on it and then stamped it onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock - it gave the image a sort of washed out, weathered look. If you've never tried it - give it a shot! It was a fun technique. I used Wild Wasabi for the stems, Groovy Guava for the flowers, and Chocolate Chip for the flower centers. I then stamped the butterfly in Soft Sky on a separate piece of cardstock and cut it out. I added some sparkle with my Sakura Clear Gel Pen and mounted it on my main stamped image with foam tape.

The entire piece was layered on a piece of Groovy Guava. I added a strip of Chocolate Chip Poly-Twill ribbon finished off with the flower slide from the Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware, both available in the Occasions Mini Catalog. Finally, I stamped the triple flower stamp from the Live Your Dream set in Chocolate Chip to the upper left side. That was it!

Thanks for stopping by, have a great night!



Card Supplies:

Stamps: Live Your Dream (SU!)
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava, Whisper White, Afternoon Tea DSDS (SU!)
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky (SU!)
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Poly-Twill ribbon, Flower Slide from Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware (SU)!

April Blog Hop!

Hi everyone! Welcome to another edition of PTI's Blog Hop! When I saw Nichole's challenge for April, the part that stuck with me was the theme of the small squares. I wanted to make sure that my project maintained this concept. I thought about what I wanted to do, and then the other day, sitting at my desk at work I spied this:

It is my pencil cup, which was originally a mosaic glass votive candle holder... so using that inspiration, here's what I came up with:

It is a lantern!

Here is closer shot (bear with me, I have a few different photos to share with you to give you the full effect!)

I started with a clear paint can (this one was purchased at Staples). I then cut a piece of vellum to line the inside of the paint can. This was going to be my base for the mosaic. I used a 3/4-inch square punch to punch out my tiles from the Father's Knows Best patterned paper sheet provided by Nichole. Since the squares on the paper were 1-1/2 inch square, I could get 4 squares out of each!

Next, I adhered the patterned paper squares to the vellum, keeping the pattern random. After all the squares had been adhered, I just slipped the vellum inside the paint can! It was a perfect liner, and was so easy.

Then I was ready to begin working on the outside of the paint can. I used white StazOn to stamp the fancy square from Simple Little Things, (the Anniversary Set) randomly on the outside of the can. I was hoping it would create a shadow effect once the lantern was lit. I added a strip of brown twill ribbon to the bottom rim of the can, and pearlescent Dew Drops around the top rim. The final touch was to tie different colored ribbons to the handle and I was ready to light it up!

While I did use a candle for my photographs, I would recommend using one of the battery-operated votive candles if you should make something like this.

Here's a view with the lights out:

It turned out just as I had imagined! The stamped images on the outside create a pretty patterned shadow when the lantern is lit. Here's a close up:

Well, what do you think? Wouldn't this be a great addition to a deck or patio? Even a non-hanging version (with a battery-operated votive) would make a beautiful centerpiece for an evening party or wedding!

Thank you for stopping by - I am really looking forward to reading all your comments. And don't forget to head back to Papertrey Ink's Forum to vote for your favorite, most inspiring project! Please keep me in mind! I can't wait to see what all the other participants have come up with!

Thanks again for stopping by and participating in the Blog Hop!

Project Supplies:

Stamps: Simple Little Things (PTI)
Paper: Vellum, April Blog Hop Father Knows Best patterned paper sheet
Ink: StazOn white
Accessories: Acrylic paint can, Lemon Tart and Summer Sunrise Topnotch Twill (PTI), Chocolate Chip twill (SU), yellow ric-rac (American Crafts), Pearlescent Dew Drops (The Robin's Nest)

April Blog Hop is tomorrow!

Tomorrow is Papertrey Ink's second monthly Blog Hop. This month, 25 blogs were chosen to be listed on the Featured Blog List! And what do you know, my blog was picked!! How exciting is that! So check back tomorrow to see my project! I am very excited about it.. I did my best to think outside of the box. I look forward to seeing you then!

Blue Butterfly

This card is one that we made last week at Stamp Camp. The layout for this card was taken from one of my previous issues of Stampin' Success.

The card base is Brocade Blue. Layered on top of that is a strip of Bashful Blue, Shimmer White, and Night of Navy textured cardstock. The Bashful Blue is stamped with the fancy scalloped circle from the Kind Thoughts set in Bashful Blue ink. The flower centers are highlighted with my Sakura clear sparkle gel pen. The butterfly is stamped in Night of Navy on a piece of Shimmer White and then cut out. It is layered on top of a circle punched out of Shimmery White. The sentiment is from All Holidays, stamped in Night of Navy. I like how it is slightly larger than the cardstock and the little flourishes extend off the paper.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed today's card. Stop back tomorrow for more Stamp Camp cards!



Supplies:

Stamps: Kind Thoughts, All Holidays (SU)
Paper: Brocade Blue, Bashful Blue, Shimmer White, Night of Navy textured (SU)
Ink: Bashful Blue, Night of Navy
Accessories: Sakura clear sparkle gel pen

Fabulous Flower Birthday

Sorry about the neglected blog. I have been so swamped at work lately, and I have had little time or energy for stamping and blogging once I've gotten home. Oh well, I will try and work to be more motivated!

I was visiting with my in-laws over the weekend and learned that my husband's great aunt is having a birthday this week. We don't see her very often, but every time that we do, she is always so classy and put together. I was looking for some motivation to create, so I decided to send her a card. No matter how many cards I have on hand, I always like to make a special one for the occasion. I went for a classic, simple sketch and made myself pass over the Papertrey stamps to pick a Stampin' Up! set. Here is what I came up with:

I flipped through my patterned paper stash and found this one, Admire, from the Basic Grey Blush line. I pulled my colors from the paper, choosing Soft Sky, Ruby Red, and PTI Sweet Blush. The strip of patterned paper was layered onto a piece of Ruby Red that was scalloped with my corner rounder.

The large (dahlia?) flower from SU's Fabulous Flowers set was stamped three times in Ruby Red onto Sweet Blush cardstock and cut out. I sprayed the flower with some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Iridescent Gold and added some adhesive pearls to the center. I tied a strip of Sweet Blush Topnotch Twill to the patterned paper and adhered it all to a base of Soft Sky. The sentiment is from PTI's Birthday Basics set, which has a wonderful selection of sentiments for the card inside and outside. Next step was into an envelope that had been stamped with the large flower in Sweet Blush, and it was off to its recipient! Happy Birthday, Aunt Billie!

That's it for me! I have another post for you tomorrow.. some things we made at Stamp Camp last week. Thanks for stopping by!



Supplies:

Stamps: Fabulous Flowers (SU), Birthday Basics (PTI)
Paper: Soft Sky, Ruby Red (SU), Sweet Blush (PTI), Admire (Blush line, Basic Grey)
Ink: Ruby Red (SU), Burnt Umber (Palette Ink)
Accessories: Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist (Tattered Angels), Sweet Blush Topnotch Twill (PTI), adhesive pearls, corner rounder

We Have a Winner!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

9
Timestamp: 2008-04-16 16:05:55 UTC

Mary, that's you! Please send me your postal address and I will get your Anniversary set in the mail right away. Check out Mary's awesome stained glass card here.

Thanks to everyone for participating! All of your cards were beautiful - it was really interesting to see what each of you chose from the original card to use as inspiration. I wish I had enough sets to send you all one!

I hope you stop back from time to time and I will be sure to visit your blogs as well.

I hope you have a great day!

A Gift, A Card, A Challenge, and a Giveaway!

I have been lazy and neglectful of my blog lately, but I'll make it up to you!

Earlier this week, I received my much-anticipated Anniversary set from PTI! What a wonderful gift for buying their fabulous products! The card I have to share with you today is using PTI's Anniversary Set, Simple Little Things. That link takes you to the PTI forum, where Nichole posted a picture of the set. (If you don't want to see it, watch out! And quit reading this! :)

My first impression of the set was that the images looked like stained glass. So I set out to create that look in my card.

I started with a 5.5" by 11" piece of Spring Moss. The back panel of the card is longer than the front to show off the 'stained glass'. I stamped three of the circular images in Palette Ink Noir onto vellum. Then I used my good old colored pencils to color them in. I actually added the color to the back of the vellum - to me, this keeps the black sharp and creates the leaded look.

The vellum is actually sandwiched between the cardstock: a 1.5" piece is folded towards the back of the card to give it a clean finish. The circles were punched with a 1 3/8-inch punch.

Here is a close up shot of the images (you can click any image for a larger view):

And now one with the light behind it:

For the front of the card, I masked off about half an inch on each side and stamped the smaller cross repeatedly. I added a white dot to every other row using the smallest single dot from Polka Dot Basics. The medallion on the front is actually 3 different stamps all layered together. First I stamped the very ornate circle from Simple Little Things in Spring Moss onto Kraft cardstock. Then I followed up with the bolder image in Palette Ink Noir. Finally, I used one of the small designs from the Borders & Corners Oval set in Palette Ink Claret to add more color. I finished it off with a green brad in the center. The sentiment is also from the Anniversary set.

With that said, I challenge you to create something! Find something about this card that inspires you, whether it is the layout, the colors, the multi-stamped images, or whatever! Post a comment with a link to your blog or gallery sharing your creation. On Wednesday, April 16 at 12:00 pm EST I will use the Random Number Generator to randomly choose a winner. We should all have recuperated from Tax day and the PTI Release at that point. And what are you playing for, do you ask?

Why, the chance to win my extra Anniversary set! I know there are many of you PTI forum members that did not qualify for a set, and I'd like to give one of you the opportunity to have it. So hit your craft room and share your creations! I am really looking forward to seeing them!

Have a great day!



Supplies:

Stamps: Simple Little Things, Polka Dot Basics, Borders & Corners Oval (PTI)
Paper: Spring Moss (PTI), Kraft, Vellum (SU)
Ink: Spring Moss, Noir, Claret (Palette Ink), Whisper White Craft (SU)
Accessories: Colored pencils, brad