Papertrey April 2018 Blog Hop...

Can the months be going by any faster? Hard to believe it's almost the end of April and time for another Blog Hop challenge. This month's inspiration photo had a lot of colors to choose from, but right now I'm stuck in a Hawaiian Shores/Tropical Teal mode and those are the colors that jumped out to me.

I wanted to make a quick, clean and simple card for a change. On white cardstock, I randomly stamped the mums in Hawaiian Shores and Tropical Teal inks, adding a few small leaves in Spring Moss ink. The sentiment is stamped in black ink.

That's it! Wow, this sure was a short post for me!😎 I'm playing around with the "flat lay" photography tips that Lexi Daly shared with us. I need to practice a bit more, specifically how to take more of a close up. I used my iPad camera for this - boy this camera takes nicer pictures than my actual camera!

Card Details:

• Stamps:  PTI Mum's The Word
• Paper:  PTI White Stampers Select
• Ink:  PTI Hawaiian Shores, Tropical Teal, Spring Moss; Versafine Onyx Black
• Size:  4.25" x 5.5"

Spot Color Word Die-cuts (MIM #320)...

This week Betsy Veldman is showing us how to "combine spot coloring with your favorite word dies and outline images or backgrounds". She has a very detailed video you can watch here:  Make It Monday #320: Spot Color Word Die-cuts.

I don't have any large words and picked out a medium sized word - "friend". I started by stamping a white piece of cardstock with Mehndi Medallion (an old time favorite!) and black ink. Once I was finished stamping, I die-cut "friend" from the panel. I thought this word was attached, but each letter was on it's own.😩 To make coloring it easier, I die-cut the word again in another piece of cardstock and placed the letters back into the negative and colored it with two Copic markers. 

I placed tape behind the negative on the stamped panel and easily placed the letters in place. I added "hi there" above the word and adhered the panel to a New Leaf cardstock card base. 

Fun technique, although I think the word is a little hard to read.

Card Details:

• Stamps:  PTI Mehndi Medallion, Mixed Messages
• Paper:  PTI New Leaf, White Stampers Select
• Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
• Copics:  BG49, G14
• Dies:  MFT Friends
• Size:  4.25" x 5.5"

Graffiti Word Art (MIM #319)...

This week's challenge looked like a lot of fun to do and it was! Lexi Daly is the host and shows us how to "create die cut word art inspired by street art". You can watch her informative video here  ⇨ Make It Monday #319: Graffiti Word Art. I wasn't sure what I was going to do for this because I don't have many large word die-cuts and hoped a smaller word would work. And it did!

I started by die-cutting the word "celebrate" in white cardstock and rubbed on Hawaiian Shores, Lemon Tart and Green Parakeet inks - I just love this color combo! I stamped Versamark ink on top of the word, embossed it with clear embossing powder and rubbed Hawaiian Shores ink over top. I didn't get a sharp "shadow look" from doing that so I die-cut "celebrate" again in True Black cardstock and backed the word with it, slightly offset to give it a shadowed look. Much better!

On a piece of white cardstock with a stencil, I stenciled splatters for the background in the same colors, stamping the sentiment on an angle in black ink. As I was thinking about this artwork being on a wall, I remembered I had a brick wall stencil I could use! 

I wanted to add some additional splatters and mixed Black Soot ink with a bit of water and flicked the splatters with a paintbrush. The panel is on a Tropcial Teal cardstock card base. I'm so happy with the way this one turned out - doesn't it look like it could really be street art on a wall?

Card Details:

• Stamps:  PTI Good Times, Ways To Say: Birthday
• Paper:  PTI Tropical Teal, White Stampers Select; True Black
• Ink:  PTI Hawaiian Shores, Lemon Tart, Green Parakeet; Tim Holtz Black Soot Distress; Versafine Onyx Black; Versamark
• Dies:  PTI Good Times
• Tools:  Heat Tool
• Other:  Tim Holtz Brick Wall Embossing Folder; Tim Holtz Spatters Stencil; Embossing Powder
• Size:  4.25" x 5.5"

Simple Stitched Stems (MIM #318)...

Another week has gone by and it's time for a new challenge. This week Michelle Leone is host and shows us how to create stems with stitching. You can watch the video here ↠ Make It Monday #318: Simple Stitched Stems. It really is an easy way to add a little texture to your project. After pulling out my embroidery thread it reminded me of how much I miss doing cross-stitch and crewel work!

Michelle's card looked so cute with Tag Sale: Quilted that I decided to use the same die and die-cut it in white cardstock. I stamped the flowers in Berry Sorbet and Pure Poppy with Lemon Tart centers. I added the dotted centers and sentiment with black ink.

I didn't want to use green for the stems and opted for a light grey, done with backstitches. I added the leaves, placed on foam tape in Soft Stone cardstock. The entire die is on fun foam for dimension. I placed it on a white cardstock card base covered with a piece of Berry Sorbet polka dots. My final step was adding grey and white twine through the top.

Card Details:

• Stamps:  PTI Mixed Bouquet, Winter Hills, Reasons To Smile
• Paper:  PTI White Stampers Select, Soft Stone, Berry Sorbet Bitty Dots
• Ink:  PTI Berry Sorbet, Pure Poppy, Lemon Tart; Versafine Onyx Black
• Dies:  PTI Tag Sale: Quilted
• Other:  DMC Floss #762; Foam Tape; Fun Foam; Stone Twine
• Size:  4.25" x 5.5"

Using Outline Images (MIM #317)...

This week's challenge looked easy enough to do, and it was once I found an outline stamp! Surprisingly, I really don't have many at all. Our host Stephanie Gold shows us how to use outline images to accent our projects. You can watch the video here ⇢ Make It Monday #317: Using Outline Images.

After going through all my stamps, I saw that Oopsie Daisy would work. On white cardstock I stamped the colored images in Aqua Mist and Hawaiian Shores inks, adding Tropical Teal centers. The outline images and the sentiment are stamped in black ink.

I wanted to add another color and used Lemon Tart ink with one of the tiny stamps from Circle Scribbles. I haven't used this stamp set in a long time and was reminded of it after seeing Lisa's lovely entry for this challenge (she's #17).

I trimmed the panel down just a bit  and adhered it to a Tropical Teal cardstock card base. Quick and easy!

Card Details:

• Stamps:  PTI Oopsie Daisy, Keep It Simple: Friendship, Circle Scribbles
• Paper:  PTI Tropical Teal, White Stampers Select
• Ink:  PTI Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, Tropical Teal, Lemon Tart; Memento Tuxedo Black
• Size:  4.25" x 5.5"