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!

Masculine Birthday: Spellbinders' Sprockets Meets Papertrey Ink

We needed a masculine birthday card for a special friend from my hubby's past associations, so I chose Spellbinders' sprockets, die cut from their bronze metal foil. LOVE these metal foils for guy cards (and much more)!
My sentiment is heat embossed using two separate stamps from a fabulous Papertrey Ink set, Big Birthday Wishes, an awesome set for everyone from children to seniors!
To keep the masculine feel, I die cut the 80 from birch plywood purchased at Michaels with a retired Sizzix set and glued the "nail heads" (punch outs from the largest sprocket, actually!) to my numbers for added dimension.
We've had a couple "big" birthdays recently among friends/family, so I'm really putting this new PTI set to good use! Your visit today is much appreciated as well as any thoughts you'd like to share on my posts. :~)

Papertrey Ink August, 2011 Blog Hop: Inspirational Photo Challenge

An inspirational photo (shown below) challenged us this month for Papertrey Ink's blog hop -- another great photo because it can be interpreted in so many ways! My inspiration came from the lady's checked dress and the bouquet of flowers. Every product used on my very CAS card is available at Papertrey Ink with the exception of the DMC embroidery floss and Sakura Jelly Roll glitter pen.
Using PTI's Stampers Select White CS for my 1/4 fold card, I die cut the right edge with Edger's #3 Die. Bitty Box Basics paper was used to cut a Half & Half die shape, as well as a 1" piece with the Edger's die. I glued this inside my card's right edge so it just peeks out for a tiny pop of color. LOVE the Half & Half and edger dies and I will use the larger edger on my envelope's edge too!
My stem, flower and sentiment from Botanical Silhouettes are stamped with Landscape and Raspberry Fizz inks. I think the Jelly Roll glitter pen adds a nice touch to my bloom! Then I simply tied embroidery floss through a PTI button for a very quick and simple finish.

Thanks for coming by and have a hopping good time today!!!

JustRite Friday Challenge 056: Shaped Holiday Card or Tag

With 116-degree record-setting heat today in the desert, I chose white & silver for my Christmas card for the returning JustRite Friday Challenge. YAY!!! I'm very happy with the result and almost felt cool while working on it! Regardless, it's wonderful to have another holiday card for my stash.
This one features JustRite's Vintage Christmas ornaments stamped on pearl vellum, embossed in silver and framed using Spellbinders' Labels Sixteen. My frame is cut from Papertrey Ink's Shimmer CS, stamped with a Vintage Christmas border, silver embossed and mounted with foam dots to a silver CS layer die cut from Label Twenty-One's largest die. I traced that same die onto Shimmer CS and a folded grey card from my stash, cut around both by hand and mounted the main image with foam dots.
I used JustRite's 25-pt. Times New Roman alphabet for my sentiment, die cut with a Spellbinders' Grommet Tag.  Accents include narrow silver ribbon from my stash tied into a bow on the left to secure my sentiment tag and Recollections rhinestones.
I appreciate your stopping by today and hope you're keeping cool wherever you are!!!

Mojo Monday Sketch #203: Birthday Flea Market Style

I can't seem to leave this Flea Market (Colorbok) paper alone! Inspired by the Mojo Monday #203 sketch for this week, I now have another much-needed birthday card for my stash.
Starting with Papertrey Ink's Kraft CS, I added a rectangle of the DP, a Big Scalloped Circle LG Spellbinders' die cut from their glitter paper pack and a hand-cut "varnished" rose. Accents include a punched scalloped edge and Copic-colored lace sewn on by machine, as well as a "rose vine" corner and tiny floss bow.
My sentiment is also from Papertrey Ink and I hand cut it to fit in with my main image.

Mehndi Medallion Thank You

If you've not yet seen this fabulous Mehndi Medallion acrylic stamp set by Papertrey Ink, you are truly missing out. It consists of the large medallion used here on my CAS card, 2 medium-sized medallions, a small one and 2 tiny ones, a total of 6 stamps for a mere $5 investment! I'd have purchased it even if it had been $15 or $24 just because the samples I've seen on Nichole's blog and the Papertrey Forum are amazing, but for such a teeny price tag, it's beyond a bargain. I think this is one set I may "wear out" in a short time -- LOL!
Today I've paired the medallion stamped in Aqua Mist ink with a sentiment from Giga Guide Lines stamped in True Black ink on white CS. For finishing touches I used PTI's Edgers #3 die along the card's opening, dabbed with Aqua Mist ink, and Martha Stewart seam binding in an absolutely perfectly-matched color IRL -- if only my camera could capture that -- sigh! Today Nichole's peek into this month's release revealed an impression plate of this very medallion -- be still my heart -- which almost makes me wish I had a job so I could purchase more often (big sigh)!