Papertrey June Blog Hop Challenge

This month's blog hop is all about color, so our challenge is to create a project using our favorite Papertrey color combination. Now, I didn’t realize that this was a favorite combination of mine until I noticed that I had used it in no less than THREE cards recently. And lucky you, you get to see all three of them.

Let’s start with this one. It uses the set Heart Prints. Very simple and classic. I like it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t what Papercrafts magazine was looking for in the last publication call. I still like it.

Next up, another pub rejection. You’ll notice a theme here with 1/4” strips. Everyone who makes layered cards has 1/4” strips laying around. You know you do. Here’s a really cool way to use them. These are some extra butterflies I had left from making this card.

The third card is one I made a little while ago. I don’t think I posted it yet. Signature Greetings again, and Delightful Dahlia. That’s some black Sparkly Fluff in the center of the flower.

Hope you enjoyed the cards and can get some inspiration from my color combination. 

Blast From the Past Blog Hop

I’m excited to be participating in Taylored Expressions’ Blast From the Past customer bog hop. I realized that I haven’t given my TE stamps enough love lately, so this was a great opportunity to play with them. Here’s my card, using the set Doctor’s Orders.

I used papers from the Cosmo Cricket Early Bird collection for the background and the paper-pieced bedspread. The colors kinda fit the optional color inspiration that was included with the blog hop rules:

I didn’t want to add another layer behind the focal image since the background was so busy already, but it needed some definition so I just ran a red Copic marker around the edges of the ovals. And of course I had to add a little bling in the form of red rhinestones.

Here are the entries from the Taylored Expressions Blast from the Past blog hop! Stay tuned for details on how you can sign up for the customer blog hop next month!

1.	Taylor VanBruggen	19.	Alison Anderson	37.	Libby Hickson
2.	Monika Davis	20.	Jessica Willison	38.	Rebecca Ednie
3.	Jen Tapler	21.	JoAnn Valderama	39.	Peggy McCurry
4.	Tracy Clemente	22.	Cassie Trask	40.	Tonya Woodruff-Everett
5.	Carolina Buchting	23.	Margaret de Witt	41.	Barbara Anders
6.	Jackie Pedro	24.	Karen Motz	42.	Jami Sibley
7.	Corinne Reyes Mercado	25.	Candace Mitchell	43.	Pattie Goldman
8.	Margie Cortina	26.	Shelly Cameron	44.	Angela Bear
9.	Bonnie Ratzloff	27.	Charmaine Ikach	45.	Carole Chesser
10.	Tangii Crain	28.	Karen Giron	46.	Ayana Posadas
11.	Jodi Collins	29.	Laurie Schmidlin	47.	Lisa Smeaton
12.	Stacey Schafer	30.	Tammy Hershberger	48.	Colleen Begley
13.	Kerry Johnson	31.	Lorie Ames	49.	Lori Tecler
14.	Tanis Palmer	32.	Ann Kranitz	50.	Rosie Hughes
15.	Kelli Hull	33.	Carolyn Mustopa	51.	Sankari Wegman
16.	Nancy McKinney	34.	Melissa Cooper	52.	Meri McLaughlin
17.	Lisa Hjulberg	35.	Laura Jean Nygaard	53.	Melissa Sauls
18.	Stephanie Kraft	36.	Patti Gingrich

(Collection closed)

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For an Inspiring Graduate

I may have mentioned that I work at a college. I come in contact with all kinds of students on a daily basis, but I have had the privilege of becoming friendly with one who really stands out. Lorinda is no spring chicken; I know she has a grown son. She has battled almost every kind of challenge, health and otherwise, that you can think of, including two bouts with cancer. Yet she has the most positive, infectiously joyous attitude of anyone I have ever met. She’s an inspiration to everyone she meets. She is my biggest cheerleader in my weight loss journey, swearing she sees changes that even I can’t see.

And she is graduating today – magna cum laude.

This card is simple, but it says everything it needs to say, and it sparkles – just like she does.

The cap is from the set For the Graduate, and the sentiment from Signature Greetings, both by Papertrey Ink. The trailing rhinestones are a piece of a Zva Creative flourish from i {heart} papers. There’s another rhinestone in the center of the cap. I cut the panel a little smaller than the card front and scored it 1/4” on all sides with my Scor-it board.

I’m so proud of her huge accomplishment – even prouder that she’s going on for her Master’s degree in the fall. I wish her all the happiness in the world. But I’m really gonna miss her…

IHP June DT Challenge: Getting “Krafty”

[BE SURE TO READ ALL THE WAY THROUGH TO SEE SOME EXCITING NEWS!]

The challenge this month was to use one of the Kraft patterned papers that Kate has in the store. There are plenty of them, and I decided to use the Life Stories Collection 2 Pack by My Mind’s Eye. Pretty roses, huh?

Well, you might have noticed that I don’t use Kraft very often. And oh brother (sister), did I ever struggle with this challenge! I played around with an idea I had for 2 weeks and couldn’t make it work. Finally, I had to just toss it and start over again. I used the FTL#94 from Clean & Simple Stamping for my layout.

The focal piece is actually the back of one of the tags that comes with the collection. I messed up the front. Yeah, this was THAT kind of card. I stamped the rose leaves from the Hero Arts set Leaf Prints on the tag, and also on a scrap piece of Kraft paper, with Ripe Avocado ink. I cut the leaves out of the scrap piece and glued them onto the tag. The rose is from an ooooold package of Martha Stewart stickers that have been sitting in my stash for about a century. It was pink, and I airbrushed it burgundy with one of my Copic markers.

I took a length of red crepe ribbon and sprayed it with a brownish Copic marker to bring it a little closer to the color in the paper. Then I ruffled it behind the circle and sprayed some of the same brownish color around the edge to “dirty it up” a little. I don’t know why. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

The greeting is from the Mint Motif set Very Square Sentiments, available only from i {heart} papers.

And speaking of stamps available exclusively from i {heart} papers (here comes the big news), tomorrow begins sneak peeks of the latest Petal Press set called Summer Garden. The Petal Press is BACK (after a brief hiatus) and this new set is the perfect summer set! It’s sweet and elegant and even coordinates with some elements from Happy Harvest! 

With the new release comes some new DT faces. They will all have sneak peek samples tomorrow and there will be blog candy up for grabs, so be sure to stop by and comment on all of their blogs for your multiple chances to win, both tomorrow and on release day, June 23.

Please join me in welcoming (or welcoming back) the team. I hope you stop by tomorrow to see their amazing creations!  (Note: Tracy will have projects posted all week long leading up to the release.)

The Petal Press Design Team:
Amy
Cathleen
Gretchen
Heidi
Julie
Krysten
Natalie
Tiffany
Tracy – designer
Kate

Now go check out the rest of the “regular” IHP Design Team and see how much better they met this challenge than I did:

Cathleen
Deb
Gretchen
Kendra
Loretta
Lori
Lynn
Megan
Tracy (yes, she’s a busy girl!)
Kate

If you read this far, you deserve a prize. Unfortunately, I don’t have one. But if you read this far, you also know how and where you can try for one.    :-)