A Pocket Full of Posies

I made this sympathy card using my new stamp set from Technique Tuesday called Pocket Full of Posies. I love the combination of purple and yellow, so I wanted to use the big posy included in the set, so I could colour it in shades of purple! Just details about the card: I added purple and yellow glitter to the inside and outside edges and inked all around the edge of the cardstock with Plum Pudding ink.

Supplies: Pocket of Posies set by Technique Tuesday; sentiment from Essential Sentiments by My Favorite Things; glitter; ticket punch by SU!; white Stamper's Select cardstock, Lemon Tart and Plum Pudding cardstock all from Papertrey Ink; Copic markers.

Papertrey Ink July Blog Hop!!!

I'm soooo excited!! Tonight is my very first time participating the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop!!


This was the challenge issued for this month's Blog Hop... "With the addition of vellums to our lineup this month, we want to see your very best use of this fun new product, especially our exclusive linen vellum. Embrace the transparency & thickness and use it to your advantage. They die cut beautifully & emboss well when using the Nestabilities. Layer it, stamp it, build with it (think templates for boxes & bags), use it as your card base, brayer it or distress it! The sky is the limit! Even if you do not have our vellums to work with, please feel free to use what you have!" There you have it!

A note-- The vellum I used is not Papertrey Ink's because it was not available to me as of the start of the challenge so I used some from my stash which absorbed the Aqua Mist ink terribly, hence not being able to see the beautiful flowers from the Out on a Limb set that I stamped all over the vellum. :(

Supplies used: Everyday Blessings 6x6 designer paper; Stampers Select white cardstock; vellum; Aqua Mist satin ribbon; Out on a Limb (revised) flowers AND sentiment; Aqua Mist ink; crystals.

A note-- This card was made using vellum as the card base. I used my scalloped circle and plain circle Nestabilities for the base, as well as for the other layers. The flower is stamped on the white cardstock AND on the vellum (which I cut out) and the edges are kind of turned upwards to give the card some dimension.

Supplies used: vellum; Berry Sorbet cardstock, Summer Sunrise cardstock, Stampers Select white cardstock, Berry Sorbet ink, Summer Sunrise ink, glue dots, pop dots, crystals, Making Memories clear glitter; paper piercer.

Check out the Blog Hop forum HERE.

Using those wonderful birthday gifts!!

This is the first card I've made with my new Euphoria paper (by Basic Grey) that my mom and dad gave to me for my birthday last week. I looooove this paper. It's so pretty and girly! :) The entire card measures 5 1/4" square. Things to note- the rub-ons are on transparency and give the card more depth IRL.

Supplies used: Basic Grey Euphoria paper (from 6x6 pack), Transparency paper from Cornish Heritage Farms, Basic Grey Euphoria rub-ons, Friends rub-on by Melissa Frances, chipboard circle by Technique Tuesday, flowers by Prima, brads by Making Memories.

Tools used: Nestablities scalloped circle die and plain circle die, Heidi Swapp distressor, sandpaper

Mamabella's bundle of joy!

Ohhhh another baby card, and yes, it's Mamabella (again). I promise you I'm almost done making baby cards. :)

I used my new Plum Pudding paper (whewf- say that 3 times fast!) and Guide Lines patterned paper from Papertrey Ink. I paired it with Lavender Moon, a colour from May's PTI release. On the Plum Pudding card base I used my Heidi Swapp distressing tool to rough up all edges of the card. Then I tied the satin Plum Pudding ribbon to the Guide Lines patterned paper and glued it down. Mamabella I coloured in with my Copic markers and inked the edges with Plum Pudding ink. Then I used my SU! Ticket punch on all the corners before gluing it to a piece of Lavender Moon that I cut out using a long scalloped rectangle from the Nestabilities collection. These were glued to two other layers of cardstock and I finished it off by stamping my sentiment at her feet. (Sentiment is from Verve Visual.)

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Oooooooo lookey what I got for my birthday!!!

Yup, yesterday I was big ol' 2-7. :) This is what my mom and dad got me for a present...lucky me!! That's a Cropadile Big Bite, OhSoPrettyBella, pearl brads, bling and Basic Grey Euphoria paper and rubons. Woohoo!! Not to mention a $50 gift card to my fave LSS The Paper Pickle. Saaaaweet! Thanks mom and dad!

Creating your own stamped backgrounds

I made these three cards awhile ago and am finally getting around to posting them. So simple to make-- very quick too, so that you can whip up a half dozen or so at a time! The key is stamping your images on a 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper and cutting it into smaller pieces as you need it. I tried three different combos...

All the flower stamps, dots and sentiments are from Papertrey Ink's Garden of Life stamp set. This set is perfect for creating your own backgrounds- something I haven't really tried much of, but got the hang of quickly.

The first card from the left uses Summer Sunrise and Lemon Tart papers from PTI and black Bazzil cardstock. Ribbon is Summer Sunrise stitched, and inks are Summer Sunrise and Graphite Black.

The second card uses Berry Sorbet, Sweet Blush and black cardstock. Inks are Berry Sorbet, Spring Moss and Graphite Black. The ribbon is misc. from my stash and diamond Stickles were used on the flower centers and the black dots.

The last card uses Lemon Tart and Aqua Mist cardstock. Inks are Lemon Tart, Aqua Mist and Graphite Black. Ribbon is Lemon Tart polka dots.

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather like we are having in South Western Ontario...I could really get used to this sunshine! :)

Life is a circus!!

Isn't that true?! Sometimes life IS a circus...and for me, that means running around after my 21 month old little guy who loves to take his diaper off...*sigh* I just keep thinking that someday I will laugh about all this! :) Well, at least he's cute- if he wasn't he'd be in much more trouble. :)

I received this Stamping Bella image and sentiment from Maria and I love it!! I'm thinking that I might have to order it for myself!!

The card base is made of a crimson coloured Bazzil cardstock and is 5 1/4" square. The image I coloured in with my Copics and sponged the edges softly with Lavender Moon ink by PTI and then matted it to Soft Sky cardstock (SU! I think). The sentiment was prepared the same way. The Lemon Tart cardstock I ran through my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, and used my ticket punch from Stampin' Up! on the corners. Then I matted it to Sweet Blush cardstock. The lavender coloured cardstock is from Bazzil, and the red brads are from Basic Grey's Cupcake collection.

Mamabella welcomes her little one!

ANOTHER baby card!! :) My friend was 10 days overdue and FINALLY had her little guy Sunday morning (only 15 minutes of pushing! Every woman in the world hates her now!) so I put together this card for the happy family.

I used Mamabella by Stamping Bella and coloured her in with my Copic markers. Then I sponged Spring Moss ink around the edges and matted it with Summer Sunrise cardstock. That piece is popped up with dimensionals on Spring Moss cardstock. The patterned paper is from the Bitty Baby Blessings 6x6 paper pack by Papertrey Ink. Flowers are Primas, the brad is Making Memories and I added some Diamond Stickles to it. Sentiment is from the Bitty Baby Blessings stamp set by PTI and is sponged with Spring Moss ink, and popped up also. The entire card is backed on the white stampers select cardstock by PTI. I like this layout and will probably use it again, since it was a quick card to put together once I got going! :)

Not the result I'd hoped for...

As soon as I finished this card I knew I didn't like it...unfortunately I only got one chance with that beautiful image, because it was sent to me by the wonderful Maria! It's the fence...it's coloured too dark of a brown. Oh well, you can't love EVERY creation that you make, and I'm sure there will be someone out there who will buy it :) And if not...well, I'll save it for someone who doesn't know a thing about making cards. :)

Since Maria sent me the image, I'm not sure who it is made by- but isn't it precious!? It's coloured in with Copic markers, and matted on Berry Sorbet cardstock from Papertrey Ink. The Spring Moss and Lemon Tart cardstocks are also from PTI, while the card base is Aqua Mist (also by PTI). On the Aqua Mist paper I stamped my backgrounder, Flourish by Hero Arts in Aqua Mist ink. I used my Cropadile to punch a hole to tie the ribbon through (which is by Offray, bought at Walmart), and the clear baubles are from Stamping Bella. Lastly, the flowers are all from Prima, while the brad is a small white one from Making Memories that I coloured to match the Berry Sorbet cardstock with my Copic markers.

Need/Want a new blog banner!!

Okay, I need a blog blanner designed...I love seeing everyone's beautiful titles/graphics and all I have is this boring ol' banner. Who do you recommend?? I have sent in a request THREE times to one particular designer (not to be mentioned), but I never get a reply back so I'm looking for other ideas....can you help!??!

Easy one-layer cards

I love one layer cards. They are quick and pain-free (haha) and usually don't involve a lot of "fuss".

This card I cased from Amy Rysavy on the Papertrey Ink gallery and forum.

I used Papertrey Ink's white Stamper's Select cardstock for my base, and used the Out on a Limb stamp set for the rest. The 'new' Out on a Limb is 2 sets ($24 each set!! Holy moly!!) with the branches and leaves being one set, and the sentiments on another. It means the images and words are bigger and clearer, but it also means shelling out more $$ for the new set....but, ummmm, obviously I don't mind because I bought it! :)

Spring Moss ink was used on the limbs (stamped all haphazardly leading off the edge of the card), and Lavender Moon, Plum Pudding, and Summer Sunrise on the flower petals. I added Spica glitter to some of the flower petals. The sentiment comes from Out on a Limb also (verses/sentiments set) and was stamped in black.

Fast, elegant and I think I'll whip up another half dozen or so to have on hand.