Papertrey Ink September, 2011 Blog Hop: Inspirational Photo Challenge

Time for Papertrey Ink's monthly Blog Hop! Once again, I needed a male birthday card, always a challenge, so I've focused on the stripes in the inspiration photo, cutting strips from PTI's striped Turning a New Leaf DP and gluing them to Vintage Cream CS to create my BG. I love this paper's distressed look for masculine cards!
My focal image uses Half and Half's striped BG stamp with Spring Moss, stamped onto my Mat Stack 1 (Vintage Cream CS). My sentiment (Inside & Out: Birthday) and distressed edges are done in Dark Chocolate Ink.  For added dimension I cut a Ripe Avocado mat by just embossing/hand cutting it and using foam dots to attach. I notched the mat's left edge, secured my trim and threaded more trim through my button. For added interest I cut Spellbinders' Banner Basics and added flat-back metal pieces to dress up the top edge. That's it for my CAS striped masculine card!

Masculine Retirement Card: Spellbinders' Style

My good friend's husband recently retired and she attempted to have a surprise party for him -- LOL! We had fun in spite of the lack of surprise and this is the "manly" card I made for him.
The smaller Labels Twenty-one die cut is birch plywood from Michaels -- love it for guy cards and it cuts/embosses beautifully!  Labels Sixteen was cut from cardboard, then distressed even more with Vintage Photo Distress Ink after peeling off the top layer. I used the same cardboard for my sentiment tag.
Paper: Heidi Swapp's World Traveler (card BG, houndstooth; sprocket); cardboard from stash (Labels Sixteen die; sentiment tag)
Ink: Memento's Tuxedo Black; Vintage Photo Distress
Dies: Spellbinders' Labels Sixteen and Twenty-one; Sprightly Sprockets; Grommet Tags
Embellishments: Screw brads (stash)

JustRite Friday Challenge 058: Frugal Friday Sponsored by Spellbinders

The JustRite Frugal Friday challenge: "create an inexpensive gift idea (anything but a card), using something you have recycled and reused from around your house".
My tin originally held Mixed Nuts from Costco. I chose a Fall theme using the 3 1/4" round leaf border from Backyard Birds, colored with Copic Markers, and "The Beauty of Fall" sentiment from Nature Nested Sentiments and Verse stamped onto my oak leaf (a retired Spellbinders' die which includes the acorns) for decorating the lid. 
Note: I used thick CS for the acorns and misted with water before embossing to get a deep impression. My leaves were distressed with Antique Linen Distress Ink. The veins were distressed while still in the die.
I covered my container with Papertrey's Autumn Abundance DP, adding a border along the top edge cut with Spellbinders' Banner Basics Three, slightly offsetting the edges using solid CS and DP to add dimension. Another pair of oak leaves and acorns were added to the side and my sweet treat is all ready for my intended recipients! Below is my drab empty clean container before I had fun decorating and filling it!


Thanks so much for coming by today -- I'm anxious to see what fabulous ideas JustRite stampers come up with for frugal gifting (something we can ALL use in today's economy)!

Happy Birthday, Cupcake: Spellbinders/Nestabling Style

Needing a card for my cupcake-baking friend's birthday and needing to actually use my stash of Want2Scrap Nestabling, I chose this cupcake paper from The Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby).
Labels Five pink pearls by Nestabling really set off my focal Spellbinders' cupcake diecut image. I first cut/embossed the cuppie in Papertrey Ink's Kraft CS and distressed with Antique Linen distress ink for dimension. I used a metallic pink paper with embossed flowers for my "frosting", re-cutting the cuppie die and hand trimming along the bottom frosting edge. A single flower from that same paper sits atop and pink Cotton Candy Stickles dot the flower centers.
Fiskars' Upper Crust punch decorates the right edge and my focal image is pop-dotted over pink Making Memories ribbon. I stamped my PTI birthday greeting (curved to fit) onto a SBs' banner die to finish off this simple card.
LOVE how well the SBs dies, Nestabling and clear stamps all work so easily together to make a fun, blinged out greeting in quick fashion!

JustRite Friday Challenge 057: Shabby Chic

Creative struggles continue here, but compared to most things, it's really quite trivial. Our challenge for JustRite this week was to create a shabby chic card.
I combined papers from several K & Company lines, distressed all edges and stitched my two BG papers to Papertrey Ink's Linen CS. Next I stamped flowers from JR's Plant a Little Love and colored with Copics. My die cut is Spellbinders' Lacey Circles and I again distressed its edges with Antique Linen Distress Ink. My sentiment and heart BG stamps are both from JR's Charmed cling set, stamped/distressed and then cut/embossed with JR's Custom Charm heart die. I Copic colored a bit of lace from my stash, then added pearls and sheer ribbons from my stash for the final touches.
Hope you're all staying cooler than we are here -- we're tired of breaking heat records!