a couple of birthday cards

I forgot to post. Amidst the flurry of valentines, I realized I never got around to these two cards. I really wish I had taken better pics. I admire all the fine photography on others blogs. Improvement on my picture taking was at the top of the list for this year - that and learning Photoshop. But I still struggle with sneaking in time for card making. Well - it's early - we're only at the end of February right? Okay I've got two cards.
First one I used Papertrey Ink's 2012 Birthday Tags and Giga Guidelines stamp sets. I also used PTI's Limitless Layers Ovals and Tag Sale #3 dies and an embossing folder from StampinUp!.
The next card I used a Papertrey Ink stamp set called Cupcake Collection for the cupcake and sentiment as well as the background candles. (I lined up the little candles on my acrylic block and just kept on stamping to create the background.) The polka dot background was stamped with PTI's Polka Dot Basics stamp set. The cupcake was cut with the coordinating dies. And the frame as well as the little banner are dies from PTI's Fabulous Frames die set. I finished it off with some ultrafine glitter.
Okay that's all from me right now. Gotta run! Thanks for stopping by.

Make It Monday #104 : Handmade Pinwheels

On Sunday I was playing around with some Papertrey Ink stamps - stamping on a sheet of Guidelines I Grid cardstock with my Giga Guidelines Stamp set. It's been a while since I played with this set and I wanted to make a birthday card. I stamped the entire sheet with one of the stamps from the set using Melon Berry ink. I played a bit with another color and tried adding in another stamp to the mix - then I had to call it a night.
On Monday I got home from work and viewed the Make It Monday this week and I thought - this sheet of stamped images is the perfect starting off point for making a pinwheel (and my birthday card). Here's the card I came up with - I added a square of Aqua Mist Gingham patterned paper behind my pinwheel and an aqua button with some floss. The sentiment is from Think Big Favorites #7.  I did make another pinwheel using some more images from the sheet and I'm hoping to make another card using it.
Oh I forgot to say I clipped my card to a cute little stand my sister made me for Christmas - so that's what you're seeing in the photo of my card. I've been using this little stand since Christmas to clip recipes up while I'm cooking and cards I want to look at after I've made them. Okay... thanks for coming by!

9th Annual Valentine Rakarama!

 So it took me a little longer to get back here to post these but I wanted to wait until the recipients had their Valentines.  Every Valentine's Day, I like to make valentines for my crafty girlfriends. For the past few years I've challenged myself to make every one different. Well - the basic layout is the same but I think you'll see they're kinda like snowflakes - not one is the same ;-) So on with the show...

Supply wise I used the My Minds Eye Love Me 6x6 paper pad, Papertrey Ink Framed Out #11 Die, as well as PTI's Limitless Layers 2-1/4 Heart dies and Heart and XOXO Border dies and my sewing machine. Alrighty that's it for today. I still have some family/friend valentines to show and a few other cards I haven't posted yet. Have a good one!

Happy Valentine's Day

Here's the card I made for my husband. I did a little masking of the sentiment - it's from the Papertrey Ink set Sending My Love. I also used the Limitless Layers 2-1/4 Heart Dies. The little strip of text patterned paper is from Martha Stewart.
I hope to be back a little later with a whole bunch of other Valentines I made for family. And then of course there is the 9th Annual Valentine Rakarama (I think that will need to be tomorrow... it's a bunch of Valentines ;-))

Papertrey Anniversary Challenge - Watercolors

I saw the challenge this afternoon - create a project with a watercolor technique or look and I thought I'd really like to give that a go. I've been working on a lot of Valentines and I wanted to do something a little less structured.I used a palette stamp from my stash and inked it with PTI Aqua Mist. I stamped it onto some watercolor paper to create a background. I took a paintbrush and blended the background a bit. Then I stamped some leaves (from PTI's Turning a New Leaf set) onto the background. I took a fine paintbrush and went over those leaves to soften them up. Then I took a little of the Aqua Mist reinker and some water on one my acrylic blocks and went back into the background to darken up some of the areas.  Finally I stamped my sentiment (from Fillable Frames Sentiments). I wish my photo did the finished piece justice because I really love the way it came out. Regardless, it was a fun little project and I thoroughly enjoyed doing something different! Loving these challenges!

sweet birthday wishes

I've been on a card making binge the last week and a half or so. With a need for some birthday cards and Valentine's Day coming up I've been a card makin fool.... and taking pictures was the last thing on my mind. But as I like to share what I've been doing and so I can remember what I did LOL... well I took pics but they're not exactly the best quality. With that said - I made a few birthday cards with Papertrey's The Sweet Life stamp set (and dies) as well as Think Big Favorites 16. I should note I did a little masking with the TBF#16 (stacking the words instead of the way the stamp is actually) - it was the sentiment I wanted to use but I needed to make it fit the space. I also used PTI's Half & Half dies and the Polka Dot Parade Patterned Paper Pack.
Okay that's all for now. I'm going to be back with a LOT of Valentines. Cos you KNOW I love to make Valentines! Have a good one!

PTI Challenge

Papertrey Ink is celebrating its 6th Anniversary with lots of challenges and contests. I decided to join in today. The challenge was to create some kind of wrap, tag or packaging based upon inspiration found on Pinterest (or another source). Well I took a look around Pinterest (I gave myself a time limit or I never would have made a thing). I don't know about you but sometimes when I look around Pinterest I feel as if my head will explode - tooooo many ideas LOL! However, I came upon this tag - I loved the colors. Me and color have a love/hate relationship.  I love it but I'm not always successful using it. But I decided this was supposed to be a challenge so I'd give it a go. I knew already I wanted to make wrapping paper and thought I'd like to also create a coordinating tag. I had a roll of white kraft paper. I cut off a large piece and got to work after a number of rounds of stamping on scrap paper to get just the right mix of colors, flowers etc. I used a number of Papertrey Ink stamp sets: Tagged Sentimentss, Flower Fusion #2 & 7, and Heart-2-Heart #7 & 12. I also used the Tag Sale #6 die. It's been a long time since I've made wrapping paper but I really had a lot of fun and I do believe I'll be making a whole bunch more!

Sending Birthday Wishes

Hey there - today I'm sharing a card I made for my brother-in-law who has a birthday today. Masculine cards can be hard - but I had a particular stamp in mind to use - which of course makes it a whole lot easier. The stamp in question - World Map from Papertrey Ink. As soon as I saw it I said to myself - that stamp is mine. (given that my husband loves a map - any map- I knew the stamp would see a lot of use.)  I also used some Fine Linen patterned paper  and the sentiment (Fillable Frames Sentiments) from Papertrey.  The black chevron pieces and the ticket were cut using my Silhouette Portrait. :-) I had used the Portrait once since receiving it for Christmas and I really wanted to try it again. I gotta say I'm a little in love with that Portrait and have all kinds of projects in mind for it in the coming months.  Anyway, I finished the card off with a star brad I had on hand - and while I was at it, I made two cards. That's all for today - have a good one!