Papertry February Blog Hop Challenge

Our challenge for Papertrey Ink's Blog Hop this month: ". . .it's all about being interactive! Show us how you take your cards to the next level, whether you have received your Movers & Shakers dies, or you're just inspired to create a pop up or swinging card without them". My most favorite interactive card for many years now has been this one from a 2005 SCS post here! I just love that it's invitation size card doesn't take up a lot of space, but once opened up, it stands perfectly flat on its base and isn't going to be always falling down or easily knocked over by a breeze or an elbow.  That's why it's an awesome get well card for either a hospitalized or home bound patient, child through adult -- sure to bring a smile when they open it and each time they see it sitting up so beautifully thereafter! Of course it's also perfect for any/every other occasion too! Keep it clean & simple for this one though, as you can't close it with a lot of bulky embellishments -- my photo below shows it in its closed position, ready for an A2 envelope!

PTI Products: CS: Plum Pudding, Lavender Moon; Stamps: Botanical Silhouettes; Inks: Plum Pudding, Lavender Moon, Ripe Avocado, True Black; Dies: Edgers #3
Non-PTI Product: Gems from stash

Halloween Wine Charms

My dear friend, best known as 'Sassy', has retired & moved out of state, so she demanded (uhhh, I mean 'sassily requested') I make these Halloween Wine Charms for her. LOL! Nothing like a bit of Fall in Winter (or AZ's Spring), huh? Another dear friend had a surprise going-away party for her, so I decided to get these made for her gift.
These are a combination of Spellbinders' dies and die cuts done with my fabulous new Boss Kut Gazelle machine. {I am such a lucky girl -- explanation here!!!  ;~)} The shapes cut with my Gaz are the ghost, spider, pumpkin and bat. One advantage to cutting these with the Gaz is that you can make them a bit larger as they do shrink to about 1/3 of their original size.
I've added beads to these (and need to do the same with my own Christmas charms) to better help party participants recognize their wine glass and just because I love the splash of color, especially with so much black for these Halloween ones. Besides, I always set my glass down and then can't remember where I put it -- LOL -- not that I really party often. My drink of choice here in the desert is bottled water (sorry landfill!) -- I'm rarely seen without it. Since I'm most often at home crafting, it's safer to close the lid tight & have an unbreakable plastic bottle when I'm rushing around my craft room with my 'weapon of choice': sharp scissors, heat tool, etc. -- you crafty ladies understand, right?!
Hopefully, Sassy will think of me when she uses these little charms this Fall!  Thanks for stopping by today and let me know if you like my little charmers -- they were really FUN to make!!!

Sincere Thanks to BossKut & Scrap-Mart: New 'Pink' Lady Gazelle in the House!

This post is long over-due, as I was the unbelievably lucky winner of a fabulous new BossKut Gazelle 12" die cutting machine right before Christmas, thanks to not only BossKut, but Scrap-Mart who sponsored the Blog Hop/give-away!!! I am so grateful to both companies and I've been re-organizing my craft room, learning to use not only my lovely Gazelle but a Smart Phone and new laptop. Talk about technological overload -- LOL! I'm hoping to soon be posting more projects created with my sweet Pink Lady.
Quite a colorful beauty, isn't she? BUT, don't be fooled by her bright feminine exterior, as there's definitely a powerful machine beneath that exterior -- never underestimate a pretty feminine exterior, right Ladies?! She can cut everything from the thinnest vellum to chipboard, magnetic material, balsa wood, shrink plastic, etc. with 500 g of pressure. I've already cut shrink plastic (see some of the wine charms here)! Go here if you want to see all the specs for yourself. I hope to soon add more of the awesome available tools that will further enhance my creativity with the Gaz and I'm very anxious to cut some vinyl. This post shows one of my first cards wherein I created the lattice BG on my card with my Gaz! The possibilities are literally endless -- I'd wanted this machine for a long time, so I'm now ready to delve into all that she can do and it's a LOT more than mentioned here!

Mat partially loaded & both side storage drawers open.

This photo shows the mat partially loaded and both storage drawers slid open. BossKut thought of everything when building her, as we can all use more storage and these perfectly hold the dongle (flash drive that comes with the machine which allows Gaz's use on more than one computer), spare blades, etc. If you're thinking of a die cutting machine, check out the Gaz!!!

JustRite Friday Challenge #066: Sketch

The JustRite Friday Challenge that ends tonight was to follow the provided sketch. For my entry I've used My Mind's Eye's Lost & Found Market Street DP pad because I LOVE the colors and seem to be wearing and creating using aqua/strawberry shades a lot lately!  Plants are bursting into bloom and putting me in a spring mood here, along with allergies due to lack of rain & high pollen counts!

Today I've used JustRite's Grandma's Doilies to stamp my large scalloped circle (SBs Classic Scallop Circles) and my sentiment and border from JR's You're So Sweet onto Papertrey Ink's Vintage Cream CS using their Berry Sorbet & Ocean Tides inks. I stamped JR's Lace Border onto Vellum, topped with a row of My Mind's Eye aqua gems, and placed that embellishment just above my bottom edge which was cut using Spellbinders' Classic Triple Scallop Edgeabilities. After I added a couple more aqua gems on my sentiment and Martha Stewart ribbon/bow to finish off my card (PTI's Aqua Mist CS), it's ready to be sent to someone "Just Because"!!!

My Sheri Crafts Challenge 79: Warm Wishes!

Our current theme for My Sheri Crafts is Warm Wishes. It's always nice to send warm wishes, but especially when old man winter is keeping many of us in the deep freeze! I always reach for a soothing warm cup of tea when I'm chilled!
My card started with a Kraft base (Papertrey Ink CS) and the cup was cut with Spellbinders' Nested Tea Cups (K&Company 'Julianne' DP) and a handle from handmade gold paper (stash). It sits atop a small doily sprayed with Tim Holtz Heirloom Gold shimmer mist -- LOVE that stuff!
A small tea label (Papertrey Ink) dangles from the cup's rim. My tiny flower print BG paper is from Prima's Madeline Collection and my sentiment stamp is from a fun little set by Our Craft Lounge.  Finishing it off are decorative metal corners (stash), more luscious aqua seam binding (Martha Stewart) and as usual, a bit of distressing with Antique Linen Distress Ink.
Hope you are keeping warm wherever you are in this big world and that you'll take a few minutes to enjoy your favorite warm beverage while you check out all our DT submissions @ My Sheri Crafts. We'd love it if you'd share your own project using our "Warm Wishes" theme too -- hope to see you there!

Papertrey Ink's Movers & Shakers Challenge

I made a card similar to this for my MIL in 2008 and loved the concept of the spiral inside that opens up to surprise the recipient and now Nichole @ Papertrey Ink has come out with several fabulous dies that will make all types of interactive cards -- so FUN!!!  Her challenge for us was to create an interactive card today! Again it's late, so keeping it short -- be back soon!!!



PTI Products:  CS: Lavendar Moon, Plum Pudding, Spring Moss & White; Ink: True Black; Stamps: Autumn Blessings & Four of a Kind (sentiments), Beautiful Blooms II (flowers); Dies: Mat Stack 1, Beautiful Blooms II, Edgers #3
Non-PTI Products: Spellbinders' Oval die; Sticko Dimensional Stickers

Papertrey Ink: Butterflies & Leaves Challenge

This was such a FUN challenge today for Papertrey Ink's continuing Anniversary celebration -- simply make a card using butterflies & leaves! I really like how mine turned out, but it's waaay past my bedtime, so I'll keep this short & sweet -- thanks so much for stopping in today and I hope your Valentine's Day is truly special!
PTI products:  CS: True Black, Vintage Cream & Melon Berry; Stamps: With Sympathy, Botanical Silhouettes (verse); Inks: True Black
Non-PTI products: Ink: VersaMark Dazzle (Champagne); Martha Stewart Clear EP; WRMK's Corner Rounder

Papertrey Sketch Challenge

I chose this very simple Papertrey Ink Fifth Anniversary sketch to create a thank you card I needed, using Papertrey's Vintage Cream, Dark Chocolate and Spring Rain CS, and a sentiment from Iconic Images stamped in Dark Chocolate. Side tabs were cut from Spellbinders' Nested Lacey Pennants, Making Memories square buttons were sewn on with DMC embroidery floss and a line of holes was pierced below my sentiment for added interest. That's it -- short & sweet!

Papertrey & Pinterest: Masculine Valentine Card

Front of Card

My Papertrey challenge inspiration came from the adorable birdie card created by Heather Nichols shown below, which I found here (3rd from left) on Pinterest. It's a FAV place of mine to hang out & peruse the unbelievable inspiration!
I wanted to create a masculine Valentine card and I'm not one who can use any pink or frilly items on my guy cards! I think this will fit the bill perfectly since it's for a close family member.

Inside of Card

I've used Papertrey's Kraft, True Black & Pure Poppy CS; Bitty Box Basics Smokey Shadow DP; and "Forever" from Everyday Classics stamp set.
Other products include red twill tape, black button and black twine from my stash, as well as JustRite Alpha stamps on the inside to complete my sentiment, and Spellbinders' Nested heart die.

Papertrey Ink: Color Challenge

Papertrey Ink's Fifth Anniversary celebration continues today with a Color Challenge. Using DT member Danielle Flanders' fav color combo shown below:




my card includes PTI's Raspberry Fizz, Hawaiian Shores, Summer Sunrise CS and Pure Poppy Ink, as well as Vintage Labels, Sweet Love and Heartfelt Basics stamp sets. My DP is Martha Stewart's Enchanted Woodland and the ribbon is from my stash.





The fun continues right through Papertrey's February release on the 15th, so I hope to have a chance to enter another challenge or two!  The hour is late, my brain is tired, so I'm keeping this 'short & sweet', but I always sooo appreciate your coming by!  ;~)

Papertrey Ink & Our Favorite Things

One of my FAV times each year is here: Papertrey Ink's Anniversary celebration (#5 this year)! Sooo much fun, sooo many fabulous prizes and SOOO much awesome inspiration -- be sure to check it out & perhaps join in between today and the monthly new product reveal on the 15th!

Today Nichole is highlighting her awesome DT members and each one chose her top 5 favorite products. Our challenge is to choose one designer's favorite pictured project and create our own inspired by it. I chose Jessica Witty's gorgeous card shown below.

LOVE her embossed doily and since I need more valentines, I played off that and two of my FAV 2011 products: Half & Half dies and Edgers #3 dies, as it's just hard to NOT use them (again)! Thank you, Jessica, for such fabulous inspiration -- I LOVE my card & it all began with your gorgeous card!!! All you PTI DT Ladies are so inspiring every day -- thanks for ALL you do!!!
PTI Product: Stamps: Background Basics: Text Style & Sweet Love (Sentiment); Dies: Half & Half & Edgers #2; CS: Pure Poppy & Stamper's Select White; Ink: True Black
Non-PTI Product: Want2Scrap Pearl Nestabling; Martha Stewart Doily; Making Memories Stick Pin & Baker's Twine; Spellbinders' Classic Heart die; pearls from stash

My Sheri Crafts Challenge #78: Love is in the Air!

This week our My Sheri Crafts Challenge is: Love is in the Air! We want to see TWO Hearts on your project, as not only is Valentine's Day fast approaching, but February is also Heart Month -- pretty fitting, huh?! What better reason to whip up a few creations in your favorite colors and join us at MSC?!
For my card, I chose to work with Spellbinders' Nested Hearts, Heart Circles and Elegant Posts dies, as well as their silver craft foil. I'd forgotten it's rather difficult to photograph the shiny craft foil, as well as the detail embossing on my beautiful velvet paper. Hopefully if you click on the photo it will show better. Otherwise, you'll just have to trust me that it's pretty IRL -- LOL! Did you notice that 'heart' shape in the Elegant Post die? Just love that little element!
My sentiment is from Paptrey Ink's Mixed Messages, the gemstone heart and silver pearls are from my stash and a Fiskars' border punch was used along the bottom.
Now we'd LOVE to have you share the love with us at My Sheri Crafts by uploading your creation too!!!