65th Anniversary

My dad asked me to make a 65th anniversary card since he couldn't find one in the store.  I think he knew mine would be better than any store bought even if he found one!  haha

I started with a piece of white cardstock and embossed it with the Cuttlebug.  I cut the oval center out of it and adhered it to an Aqua Mist cardstock card base.  Next, I stamped the sentiment in Smokey Shadow ink, adding the "65" in blue ink.

I die-cut the flowers and stamped them in light blue, medium blue and yellow, adding black centers.  The leaves are stamped in green.  Some of the flowers are adhered with foam tape.

To finish the card, I cut "love" in Aqua Mist cardstock and attached it on a slight angle at the bottom.  I added a little bit of glitter to the flowers for some sparkle.

Card Details:

• Stamps:  PTI Inside & Out: Love, Ruby Reprise, Reasons To Smile
• Paper:  PTI Aqua Mist, White Stampers Select
• Ink:  PTI Spring Moss, Aqua Mist, Smokey Shadow; VersaMagic Mango Madness, Turquoise Gem
• Tools:  PTI Ruby Rose Dies, Wet Paint Cuts Die; Standard Oval Nestibilities; Cuttlebug Geometric Rings Embossing Folder
• Other:  Glitter; Foam Tape
• Card Size:  5.0" x 7.0"

Happy Birthday

I was in the mood to make something bright for today and think this nailed it!

I cut a piece of white cardstock and placed raspberry striped paper at the bottom.  I stamped the polka dot circles at the top in shades of blue, raspberry, orange and green.  I stamped the strings and bow on top in rosebud ink, adding part of the tag in light green ink.

For the tag, I cut a piece of white cardstock and stamped the border and the sentiment on it.  The tag is placed on foam tape for dimension.  I added a few stitched stars at the bottom in coordinating colors.  Who says polka dots and stripes don't go together??

Card Details:

• Stamps:  PTI No Strings Attached, 2012 Birthday Tags, Confetti Garland
• Paper:  PTI Raspberry Fizz, Raspberry Fizz Stripes, White Stampers Select, Simply Chartreuse, Hawaiian Shores, Orange Zest
• Ink:  Memento Rosebud, Tangelo, Pear Tart, Tuxedo Black; VersaMagic Turquoise Gem
• Tools:  Lil Inker Designs Stitched Stars
• Other:  Foam Tape
• Card Size:  4.25" x 5.5"

Happy Birthday

Has it been long enough since I used my Circle Scribbles dies?  I just love these!

I took a piece of white cardstock, impressed it with stripes and adhered it to a Hawaiian Shores cardstock card base.  Next, I die-cut circles in Hawaiian Shores and Aqua Mist cardstock, placed them on the card, slightly overlapping one of them.

I die-cut the banner in Aqua Mist cardstock, stamped the sentiment in black ink and adhered it on foam tape for dimension.

Card Details:

• Stamps:  PTI Sketched Shapes
• Paper:  PTI Hawaiian Shores, Aqua Mist, White Stampers Select
• Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
• Tools:  PTI Circle Scribbles Dies, Simple Stripes Impression Plate Die
• Other:  Foam Tape
• Card Size: 4.25" x 5.5"

Friends Like You (CAS #25)

This is a quick card I made - really simple.

I stamped the circles onto white cardstock in 3 different colors of ink.  I stamped "friends" twice in black ink, once with the stamp fully inked and the second time slightly to the left to create a shadow look.  I added the bottom sentiment also in black ink.

I rounded the corners and added a few silver sequins to finish it.

Card Details:

• Stamps:  PTI Wet Paint Cuts III, Sketched Shapes
• Paper:  PTI Stampers White Select
• Ink:  Memento Teal Zeal, Tangelo, New Sprout, Tuxedo Black
• Tools:  Corner Rounder
• Other:  Sequins
• Card Size:  4.25" x 5.5"

Celebrate Your Day!

I've been so busy lately I really haven't had time to update my blog every day.  I'm hoping to get back on track.

This card uses the Tim Holtz "Splatters" stencil - I placed the stencil on top of white cardstock and using Tim Holtz distress inks and a dauber, placed the splatters on the cardstock and "colored" them in.  When finished, I flicked some water onto the image with a brush.  It was a lot of fun creating this look!

I stamped the sentiment in black ink and added a strip of Washi tape at the top.  The panel was adhered to a Pure Poppy cardstock card base.

Card Details:

• Stamps:  PTI Signature Greetings
• Paper:  PTI Pure Poppy, White Stampers Select
• Ink:  Tim Holtz Festive Berries, Squeezed Lemonade, Dried Marigold, Shabby Shutters Distress Inks; Memento Tuxedo Black
• Tools:  Tim Holtz Splatters Stencil
• Other:  Washi Tape; Water; Brush
• Card Size:  4.25" x 5.5"

Stamp-a-faire: Closing Ceremony

Well, it's hard to believe this year's SAF is over - the weekend went by so fast!  I'm happy I was able to participate in a lot of the challenges (now if I could only win one of them!).  The weather was really nice which helped keep my craft room comfortable to work in.  I made seven cards and learned several new techniques which I'll use again in the future.

Here are the cards I made and my messy craft table.  I only took a picture of a portion of the table, but the whole table looks like this - and it's 6 feet!  lol  It'll take me a while to put everything away....hmmm....maybe tomorrow....

A BIG thank you to PTI, Nichole and the Design Team for hosting this incredible SAF event each year.  I know it involves a tremendous amount of time and preparation to put together and wanted to let you all know it's very much appreciated by everyone!!

Stamp-a-faire: Time After Time Challenge

This challenge is to dig out an early project that we made and change it up, modernize it to the present.  I've been cleaning out my uncle's house and imagine my surprise when I found out he kept all the handmade cards I gave him.  And imagine my horror when I looked at some of my early card making days!  LOL  This beauty is from 2007 when the Cricut was just becoming popular.....

Remember those paper prisma flowers we all bought?  And all of those corner punches?  Yikes!  And what was I thinking with these colors for a man?  So here is how I redid this card to make it more modern and more like my style of 2014.  (I'm sure I'll look at this card in 7 years and wonder again, "what were you thinking"!)

I started with a Kraft cardstock card base and added a layer of Hawaiian Shores polka dot paper, die-cut with Card Base-ics #2.  I cut a piece of Rustic White cardstock to fit in the slots, rounding the corners.  "Happy" is cut three times in Pure Poppy cardstock and glued together - I really like doing this to give a little dimension to the word.  "Birthday" is stamped in black ink.

I die-cut the star border in Kraft cardstock and replaced the middle stars with Hawaiian Shores, adding additional stars around the wording.

Here's a side by side of both cards so you can see how it changed.  Gone are the flowers, replaced with stars.  The card is brighter, happier looking and has more masculine colors.  A huge improvement, don't you agree?

Card Details:

• Stamps:  PTI Birthday Classics: August
• Paper:  PTI Kraft, Hawaiian Shores, Hawaiian Shores Polka Dots, Pure Poppy, Rustic White
• Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
• Tools:  PTI Card Base-ics #2 Die, Wet Paint Cuts Die, Super Star Border Die; Corner Rounder
• Card Size:  4.25" x 5.5"

Stamp-a-faire: Challenge #13 Retro Rainbows

I'm still laughing from looking at all the styles from these challenges - and one that I really didn't like is rainbows!  Everything in the 80's had rainbows - belts, mugs, shirts, flip flops - you name it and it had a rainbow on it.  So, I just had to make a rainbow card and used this picture for reference.

(photo credit)

I wanted to make a simple card, after all, a rainbow is simple enough to make!  But I did it with a slight twist, incorporating the new trend of watercolor.  I used my Watercolor Wonder stamp set - it gave me the right look for making the rainbow.

On white cardstock I stamped the five colors of the rainbow.  I added the sentiment in black, slightly overlapping the bottom of the rainbow.  And the card was done --- clean and simple and looks bright and festive for a birthday card!

Card Details:

• Stamps:  PTI Watercolor Wonder, Signature Greetings
• Paper:  PTI White Stampers Select
• Ink:  PTI Pure Poppy, Harvest Gold, New Leaf; Memento Tangelo, Bahama Blue, Tuxedo Black
• Card Size:  4.25" x 5.5"

Stamp-a-faire: Challenge #12 Rad Ad Looks

SAF this year is all about time - from ancient Rome to the present.  This challenge focuses on the 1960's...ugh, when looking at some of the styles and colors from that time it makes me wonder "what were we thinking"?  Haha  Of course, 50 years from now people will be saying the same thing about us!

I was looking through my pattern paper and came across a pack of "Retro Kitchen" paper!  Oh, how perfect for this challenge!  I know it's a little bit of a cheat using pattern paper instead of doing my own stamping, but what other time would be more ideal for this paper?

I cut the pattern paper slightly smaller than A2 card size and rounded the corners with a small corner rounder.  The oval is die-cut in Spring Rain cardstock and the sentiment stamped in black ink.  It's layered on a scalloped oval in True Black cardstock and placed on foam tape for a little dimension.  The entire panel is adhered to a Spring Rain cardstock card base.  

Doesn't this just scream "good to the last drop" for a Maxwell House coffee ad from the 60's???  Plus, I think this blue color was the color of our kitchen growing up.  Oh, the memories.....

Card Details:

• Stamps:  PTI Healing Touch Sentiments
• Paper:  PTI Spring Rain, True Black; Nicole Retro Kitchen
• Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
• Tools:  PTI Limitless Layers: Oval Dies; Corner Rounder
• Other:  Foam Tape
• Card Size:  4.25" x 5.5"

Stamp-a-faire: Challenge #10 Vintage Patterns

Seeing the card Betsy made with all the colors reminds me of tablecloths I used to see in my grandmother's house.  In fact, I just found several of them in her house while cleaning out some of the drawers.  Bright colors and lots of patterns was the style. 

For my "tablecloth" I used Lovely Layers stamps for the main focus of the card, using Hibiscus Burst ink.  I found the center of the card and stamped the first flower in the middle and lined the rest of the flowers up the best I could.

Next, I added dotted lines around the flowers in Cantaloupe ink.  I thought these lines looked a little bit like stitched lines.  I added the circles with the X in the middle, again to make it look like a stitch.  Each flower has a clear gem in the center.

I didn't want to take away from the pattern of the card and used one of my Building Blocks dies for the sentiment, stamping it in black ink and placing it on foam tape.  The panel was adhered to a Hawaiian Shores cardstock card base.  I really do enjoy making my own stamped backgrounds!

Card Details:

• Stamps:  PTI Lovely Layers, Bountiful Banners, Buttons & Bits, Birthday Basics
• Paper:  PTI Hawaiian Shores, White Stampers Select
• Ink:  PTI Hibiscus Burst; Memento Cantaloupe, Tuxedo Black, Tangelo; VersaMagic Turquoise Gem
• Tools:  PTI Building Blocks Die
• Other:  Gems; Foam Tape
• Card Size:  4.25" x 5.5"

Stamp-a-faire: Morning Timer Challenge (Take #2)

I didn't participate in the 10:00 challenge and thought I'd make another easy card.  For this card I chose the following color scheme and design sketch.  At least I'm more awake to do this one!  haha

I pulled out scrap pieces of the five colors above - don't you just love to use up scraps?  I know I do!  I cut them in various widths and adhered them to a piece of white cardstock, leaving a little space in between them. 

The sentiment is stamped in black ink on a Building Blocks die (I use these dies all the time!) and placed on foam tape for a little dimension.  I had both of the butterflies already die-cut (from a previous project) in the colors I needed and added them to the card, bending the wings slightly.

This is such a simple and quick design but looks like it took time to make.

Time to make the card:  19 minutes (yep, just under the wire....)

Card Details:

• Stamps:  PTI Phrase Play #6
• Paper:  PTI White Stampers Select, Hawaiian Shores, Aqua Mist, Sweet Blush, Melon Berry, Berry Sorbet
• Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
• Tools:  PTI Building Blocks Die; Memory Box Pippi Butterfly Die
• Other:  Foam Tape
• Card Size:  4.25" x 5.5"

Stamp-a-faire: Challenge #1 Faux Frescoes

The challenge is to create a project that features some sort of "faux fresco".  Luckily, I just received a jar of embossing paste and used it for this card.  This is my first time using embossing paste...and what have I learned?

#1 - it takes a long time to dry

#2 - probably smart to wait until it dries completely before stamping on it

#3 - if you don't put it on thin enough, it really makes the card feel heavy

#4 - it's easier to work with than I thought it would be

#5 - it adds a really nice texture to the card!

I started with a piece of white cardstock and spread the embossing paste over it.  I used my heat gun to help dry it...not sure if that was smart to do or not.  I was originally going to stamp flowers on it, but since it's cooler today it feels like Fall weather so I pulled out my Leaf Prints stamp set.  I thought the paste was dry and started to stamp the leaves on it in dark green ink, only to find it wasn't completely dry.  Oops! 

I placed the finished panel on a layer of Dark Chocolate cardstock and adhered it to a Kraft cardstock card base.  I die-cut the banner in Kraft and stamped the sentiment in Dark Chocolate ink, placing it on foam tape.

I like the way it turned out and definitely will be using embossing paste again in the future.

And a close-up of the texture:

Card Details:

• Stamps:  PTI Leaf Prints, Keep It Simple:  Birthday
• Paper:  PTI Kraft, Dark Chocolate, White Stampers Select
• Ink:  PTI Dark Chocolate; Memento Olive Grove
• Tools:  PTI Sketched Shapes Die
• Other:  Embossing Paste; Foam Tape
• Card Size:  4.25" x 5.5"