PTI Blog Hop Challenge - July 2015

I'm playing along with PTI today in the July Blog Hop Challenge.  I absolutely LOVE the inspiration photo for this month's challenge!

The colors are incredible, the butterflies are awesome, and the layout made me think of a butterfly collector's pin board full of butterflies.  So naturally, I had to pull out my adhesive backed cork and roll with that idea.  :)

I started by die-cutting a mat from the cork using a spellbinders die.  My next step was to pick out some patterned papers inspired by the colors in this photo.  The papers I chose are from a 6x6 pad from My Mind's Eye called Lost & Found Two.

I die cut three of the butterflies from my patterned papers using the PTI Beautiful Butterflies dies.  Since the papers are thinner than I usually work with, I decided to cut them again from cardstock and mount the patterned papers on top for stability.  I die cut their antennas from coordinating colors of PTI cardstock.  

I used the PTI Chamomile Tea Die ink pad and a sponge dauber to distress their edges a little bit, and then I used a marker to help curl the wings slightly for dimension.  To make sure my butterflies don't get smashed flat in the envelope, I glued them down with Scrap Dots 3-dimensional glue.  It will support the wings so they don't flatten out.

After gluing them down on my paper, I found some straight pins from my sewing supplies and poked them into the butterflies at an angle so they appear to be pinned to the cork "board".  I had to cut the pins down shorter in order to make them lay where I wanted them to.  I added a small drop of Multi Matte Medium from Ranger behind the head of each pin to make sure they won't fall out.

The card base is Autumn Rose cardstock that was stamped with a background stamp from JustRite stamps using Scarlet Jewell ink and my Misti tool to line it up straight.  I already had a little banner strip in my stash of pre-cut shapes, so I stamped the sentiment (from Delightful Dahlia) in Scarlet Jewell ink and used my Score Pal to crease it so it looks like a ribbon or something.  I added a bit of curl to the ends of the banner using a marker again.

I love how well the stamped card base coordinates with the patterned papers I used on my butterflies.  Originally, I wanted to use Scarlet Jewell cardstock for the card base, but I only have small scraps of it at the moment.  (Time to order more!!)  I thought the Autumn Rose paper was too light and didn't quite coordinate with my patterned papers, so I opted to stamp on it to darken it.  It worked out even better than I thought it would!  :)  I'm very happy with the outcome.

Thanks for visiting!  I'll be fluttering on now.  Bye!

Epic Birthday!

My son is turning 15 on Monday.  {OMG!  How is that possible?!?!  Did I step through a time warp or something?!?!}  While I was thinking of ideas for his birthday card, I found some inspiration on the MFT blog from this post.  The theme of the challenge is monochromatic color schemes, and since Jake's favorite color is blue, that was my jumping off point.

Jake is also obsessed with video games so, naturally, it needed to be a gamer card.  It's a good thing I have the MFT Game Controller Dies!

Now, there's just one problem with the Game Controller dies; they look like XBox controllers.  In and of itself, that isn't an issue.  However, we don't have an X-Box.  And Jake is on the autism spectrum and is EXTREMELY literal and particular about things like that.  So I needed to alter the die cut to make it look more like a PS3 controller.

Here is a picture of the die as it was designed to look:

And here is a close-up of my altered version:

"Camera one, camera two, camera one, camera two" [name that movie]

So first, I took a couple of the circles from the larger controller die-cut and covered up the embossed areas that indicate where the 4 buttons on the right are meant to go and the space on the upper left where the joystick is supposed to be.  Besides hiding the embossing, this also created a foundation for the arrow key and the 4 action buttons.  Next, I put a joystick in the space that was meant to be the arrow keys.  Then, instead of the round buttons that go in the upper center, I cut a small black rectangle for the "select" button and a small triangle for the "start" button.  I also added an extra circle to be the power button.  After all of that, I drew some light sketch lines on the top and bottom of the controller to use as a guide to trim it into a shape that looks more like the PS3 controllers that my son has.  Here are pictures of what the real things look like if you aren't familiar with them:

XBox                                                                                                      PS3

So, any-who, my altered controller looks much more like a PS3 controller now.  Yay, me!  :)  Now I [hopefully] won't get that know-it-all-eye-roll and a lecture about the difference between PS3 and XBox.  Snotty-teenager-moment averted.  You're welcome.

So, about the color pallet.  I looked through my 6x6 paper pads for some fun patterned papers that would coordinate, beginning with the dark blue paper.  The paper at the top looks a lot less green and more aqua in person.  They are all shades in the blue to aqua family.  The sentiment is embossed with white embossing powder.  I chose to stamp the other two sentiments in black to create some balance for the black game controller.

The little crosshair on the top sentiment has a tiny star in the middle, and I just happen to have some tiny star shaped brads in my arsenal of crafty supplies.   [pun intended]  So I thought I'd add that little bid of flair to the image.

By the way, the tiny rating image at the bottom of the card says GK for "GR8KID".  So cute!!  [I'm hoping it doesn't lead to another snotty-teenage-moment of complaining that we don't allow him to play the M rated games that "all the other kids are allowed to play".  "If all the other kids were allowed to jump off of bridges, would you want to do that too?  And what kind of parent lets their 14-year-old play M rated games anyway?!?!"]

Sorry, reliving snotty-teenage-moments-in-history.

So that's it for my monochromatic, XBox-transformed-to-PS3, snotty-teenage-gamer card.  ;)  I hope you have an epic day!  Bye!

Make It Monday Custom Border & cQc

Just a quick post today.  I'm entering this card in the Make It Monday #217-Custom Borders Challenge and ColourQ Challenge #297.

  

I started by cutting the buttons from the Nostalgic Notions kit and stamping them with Pure Poppy, Enchanted Evening and Hawaiian Shores.  I attached them to the edge of my card base and then backed them with white paper to make them pop.  I added a strip of Pure Poppy paper to hide the seam.  

I cut the flowers from the Nostalgic Notions kit from white paper and stamped them with the same colors as the buttons.  The lighter shades are the result of stamping off once on scrap paper.  The leaves are stamped directly on the card base with Classic Kraft ink.  

I added a sentiment from the same stamp set using Hawaiian Shores and Pure Poppy, as well as the little corner images.

All products used are Papertrey Ink.

That's it for today!  Thanks for stopping in!

PTI Make It Monday Challenge

I'm playing along today with Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday Challenge #214; Stamping with neutrals.

Challenge Inspiration Photo

I needed a card for my nephew's upcoming birthday and this challenge was the perfect inspiration!

I started with a plain white cardstock panel cut to 4 x 5 1/4.  I used distress inks and a Tim Holtz arrow stencil to ink up the two of the corners using sponge daubers.

Next I stamped that cool skater from Stampin' Up so that I'd know where I wanted to add the other stamped details.  The rest of the stamps used on the front of the card are from the PTI Grunge Me stamp set and a Flourishes stamp set called So Distressed.

I used Memento Gray Flannel, PTI Smokey Shadow and Versa Fine black inks for my neutral colors.  The turquoise is Distress Peacock Feathers and the yellow is Distress Mustard Seed.

I used the PTI By The Numbers dies to die cut the one and three from PTI True Black card stock and My Favorite Things Daffodil card stock, which I layered and popped up on clear foam tape.

For the inside of the card, I completely covered a piece of Stamper's Select white card stock with the same distress inks and stencil as the front panel.  I also used some of the Grunge Me stamps in my neutral ink colors.

The die used for the sentiment panel is from MFT, and the sentiment is from the PTI Boy Basics: Game On mini stamp set.  I inked up the edges of the sentiment panel with the Peacock Feathers ink followed by some Smokey Shadow to make it "pop" a little more.

Papertrey May Blog Hop Challenge

I have a card to share today for the Papertrey Ink May Blog Hop Challenge.

Here is the inspiration photo for the hop.  I love the rainbow color palette and cascade of blocks!

I immediately thought of the Swirls cover-up die from Lil Inker Designs, so that's where I decided to start.

First I chose a rainbow of brightly colored, textured card stock from a mat stack that I've had forever.  Then I die cut each color with the Swirls die and collected all the little pieces in a bowl.  I also cut a white one to use as a template for gluing down all the little swirls and stuck it down to my card base with re-positional adhesive.

It took a ridiculously long time to puzzle piece the little swirls into the correct spots on the template so that they would fit correctly.  I used a quickie glue pen to glue each piece to my card base, which is PTI Stamper's Select White card stock, after I had determined where each piece would go.  When I was finished gluing down all the little pieces, I carefully removed the white template.

In person, this card has really great texture and dimension to it, thanks to the textured card stock and all the raised swirls.

Next I cut a banner from PTI vellum using the Lil Inker On The Diagonal die.  I stamped a sentiment from MFT stamps with VersaMark and heat embossed it in black.  I stuck a couple pieces of clear foam tape under the H and the 2 and glued down just the ends using 1/8 inch score tape, in order to make it bow outward and add some more dimension.

The sentiments inside are from the PTI Inside & Out: Birthday stamp set.  Although it took a while to piece this card together, I LOVE how it came out!  I really enjoy the way the paisley shapes seem to drift and flow across the paper.

I hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day!  Take time to remember our Veteran's today.

Bye!

Celebrate!

I have one more card that I'm going to submit for the Uniko Studio Challenge #21.

A birthday card for my grandmother-in-law.

All the stamps used are from Papertrey Ink except for the sentiment which is from Lil' Inker Designs.

I recently purchased the Misti Stamping Tool and found it MUCH easier to line up these stamps in order to stamp the layers of the wreath.  An excellent investment if you're on the fence about buying one.

Have a great weekend!

Uniko Challenge #21

Here's a quick card to share for the Uniko Studio Challenge #21.  The theme is flowers so I pulled out my Pure Florals Gerbera stamps.

These first two are simply stamped in different colors of ink.

This last one is stamped in VersaMark and then embossed with pink embossing powder.  It's hard to tell in the photo, but it looks great in person!

Before I go, I'd like to say a very Happy Birthday to Bev at Uniko Studios!

Thanks for stopping by!

Fussy Cutting Challenge

I'm playing along with the Papertrey Ink Make-it Monday Challenge.  The challenge is fussy cutting.

Here is the card I made:

I made this fun, interactive card for my niece, Kaitlyn.  I had to fussy cut the butterfly because it doesn't have a matching die in the set.  

 
The sentiment label is mounted on a slider panel.  You pull the little tab to reveal a message inside.

And here is the inside of the card.

This was a really fun card to make!  I adore the Beautiful Butterflies stamp and die set from PTI.  All of the stamps are PTI except for the "PULL HERE" stamp.  That one is from My Thoughts Exactly.

All papers and dies are also PTI with the exception of the sentiment panel on the inside of the card which is from Spellbinders.

I thought the aqua words in the sentiment were sort of swallowed up by the pink label and pink words, so I stamped over them in VersaMark and clear embossed them.

A few little rhinestones for some bling, and done.

Make a Wish, Sweetie!

I have one more entry for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and the colourQ Challenge.

My youngest niece turned 6, and this is the card I made for her birthday.

I've shown the card from two different angles to show the dimension, because it just isn't quite obvious enough from one side or the other.

The stamps and cupcake die are from My Creative Time.  I love the cute sentiments with this set!

I also used dies from Spellbinders, Papertrey Ink, and My Favorite Things.  The papers are a mixture; I'm not even sure which packs I pulled them from.  I know some of them are PTI, but not sure on them all.  The buttons are PTI in Sweet Blush, Hawaiian Shores, and Summer Sunrise.

Happy Happy Birthday

Hello and Happy Spring!  I can't tell you how much I'm loving the weather the past few days!  Of course, now it's supposed to rain all week, but seeing buds on the trees and flowers beginning to sprout always thrills me.

In the spirit of spring, I made a fun springy card for a friend at work.

I'm submitting this one to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and the colourQ challenge.

I don't own any of the Stampin' Up inks, so I used the closest matches that I have [see list below].  I have never tried this 3-layer technique before, and I'm glad I finally did.  I love how it came out!  :)

Here's hoping for more sunny days soon!

Supplies Used

Stamps: 

Simon Says Stamp Flower Friend & Flowers On My Mind

Clearly Besotted Flowers and Flourishes

Paper:

Papertrey Ink Hawaiian Shores & Stamper’s Select White

Inks:

Hero Arts Shadow Inks Tide Pool, Butter Bar, Green Hills & Pale Tomato

Other:

Liquid Pearls Buttercup, Flamingo & Peacock

A Special Lady Challenge

I'm checking in with a card for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.  The theme this week is Special Lady/Girl.

My friend and co-worker, Tamara, had a birthday yesterday.  She got a special gift from Mother Nature; a day off work for a "snow day"!  And the rest of us got to enjoy the gift as well!  We didn't get any snow though, only ice.  I was certainly glad to stay in bed instead of driving in that nonsense!  

So I had to wait until today to give Tamara her card, but it is perfect for today's challenge!

Now, when I finished this card it was PERFECT and awesome and I totally loved it!  However, I had it on display on my kitchen counter and a little draft caused it to fall off onto the floor.  Of course, ANYTHING that hits the kitchen floor is fair game, so my dog Bailey made a quick dash over to inspect the potentially tasty morsel that just hit the ground in HIS territory.  One quick sniff told him that it wasn't a tasty treat; just some boring paper thingy.  Which is now all smudged up next to the "h" from his wet little sniffer.  I will consider this his artistic contribution.  It's doggie nose art!  ;)

Bailey says "Happy Hump Day to you all!" and "Happy Birthday to Tamara!".

(Bailey all warm and cozy on a snow day)