Oh no! More pink and brown!

I just can't seem to get away from it. I like it, really. It just seems that I use it too often. Anyhow, this week i {heart} papers is the sponsor of the sketch challenge on the CardPatterns blog. And as sponsor, Kate is giving away an awesome bundle of goodies to the winner of the challenge.

I had a really hard time with this sketch, but I did end up with a card I like. But as Kate says, "that's why they call it a challenge!"

What I used: (mostly available at i {heart} papers!)
Stamps: Birthday Cupcakes (Inkadinkado)
Ink: Palette Burnt Umber, Copics
Paper: PTI white, Basic Grey Bittersweet collection
Other: Ranger Glossy Accents, Stickles, white tafetta ribbon, bling

Can Spring Be Far Behind?

There's something about butterflies that just lift my spirits! We've had a string of bright, sunny (but still kinda cold) days, and you can almost believe that winter will be behind us soon. So when I decided to do Julee's Mojo Monday Sketch this week, I really wanted to use butterflies in a bright, springtime-y way.

I recently got this gorgeous Webster's Pages paper from Kate at i {heart} papers (p.s. - it's on sale!), and the bright, cheery colors and the butterflies just called out to me. It paired beautifully with this Stampendous Butterfly Beauties set. And of course, it just wouldn't be complete without some bling!



What I used:
Stamps: Butterfly Beauties, PTI Out on a Limb
Ink: PTI Ocean Tides, Palette Claret
Paper: Webster's Pages Cream, PTI White, SU Apricot Appeal, Baja Blue
Other: Random ribbon from Michael's, bling , SU Circle Punch

IHP February Challenge (and a sale!)

This month Kate, of i {heart} papers fame, challenged us, her devoted and talented design team, to use holiday paper or stamps in another way. I admit, I struggled over this, since the only holiday paper I had consisted of snowmen and trees. And then inspiration hit — I could get PUNNY with it! So I kinda decided on a concept, a Valentine's Day card, and then thought to myself, "Self, where are we gonna get a sentiment stamp that works for this?" And like a bolt of lightning, it struck me: use the JustRite stamper — you can make any sentiment you want!!!

Now I have to say, this card tickles the heck out of me. Not only did I manage to think outside of the proverbial box, but I stepped, no leaped, out of my comfort zone. If you've seen much of my stamping, you will know that my style doesn't lean toward shabby or distressed. But because of the nature of the paper design (OK, and because I kinda smeared the white ink when I was trying to highlight the embossed buttons) I went and dragged that white ink pad around the edges of everything. Instant shabby. I'd like to think it adds to the snow concept. But perhaps I flatter myself too much...

Go check out what Kate and the rest of the design team did with this challenge:

Sarah Anderson
Cathleen Torina
Loretta Lock
Amber Kroening
Kendra Wietstock
Lori Tecler
Deb Felts
Tracy Schultz
Meredith Socha
Dee Jackson

Oh yeah, about the sale: In addition to her usual free shipping with orders over $40, Kate already has lots of things reduced in her store, but i {heart} papers is running some banner ads on Splitcoast Stampers, and to celebrate she's offering an additional 10% off on everything in the store — the code is in the banner ad, so go check it out!

What I used:
Stamps: JustRite stamps (Small Letters and Times New Roman arranged on round wood block)
Ink: Palette Noir and New Canvas,
Paper: Jolly Little Snowmen, SU Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, PTI Raspberry Fizz
Other: Cuttlebug strip embossing folder, Nestabilities hearts

Inventor of the Year? Moi?!!!

And what is that contraption, anyway?

Do you remember the pic of the stacks of printed and cut wedding invitation pieces that I showed you the other day? The ones for my cousin? Well, the construction of them was looking to be truly fearsome, as they required a degree of precision and consistency of a scope beyond anything I've ever done before. And having to make 120 of them in a short period of time was scaring the heck out of me! So I cut down a piece of foam-core board, and created a template/frame to make the job much simpler, and foolproof!

Wanna see what the finished product will look like? (My apologies to any family members who might be reading this who will now not be surprised when they get theirs in the mail.)

The ribbon is looped at the top, runs through the center of each panel, between the layers. And the bottom one, the RSVP, is attached in such a way that it can just be slid off the ribbon and mailed back in the envelope. Oh, and what you can't see is that on the back of the middle piece is another pink panel for Transportation.

Now, this is only a mock-up, for measuring purposes. I used text-weight paper for this one, whereas the real ones will use all 80# cardstock. But can you just imagine having to put together 120 of these — centering the ribbon, getting the loop and the distance between each piece consistent — without something like my little contraption? I am (perhaps inordinately) proud of myself for this one!

And so, my dear friends, you know what I'll be doing this holiday weekend...

PTI Sketch Contest

PaperTrey Ink is celebrating their 2nd anniversary, and they're having all kinds of cool contests! Today's contest looked especially fun, and I had a little time to play, so I decided to go for it. Nichole hid a sketch in a connect-the-dots puzzle, to celebrate a new line of ribbons she's coming out with. I decided to turn the sketch upside down for my card.

What I used:
Stamps: PTI Green Thumb
Ink: PTI Plum Pudding & Lavender Moon, Versamark
Paper: PTI White, Plum Pudding, Guide Lines DP
Other: Martha punch, silver embossing powder, SU flower punch, PTI Plum Pudding ribbon, White Liquid Pearls

Whew!!!

OK, just in case you were wondering why I've had pink and brown on the brain lately, here's why...

I'm making the invitations for my cousin's wedding, and these are her colors. I did the Save the Dates a couple of months ago, so these colors have been stuck in my head for a while!

Today was spent printing and cutting cardstock for 120 invitations. And these are not just any invitations...wait until you see the finished product! I guess this is what's going to be keeping me busy for the next week or so, but I'll keep trying to squeeze in some other (non-pink&brown) stuff!

Peony Butterfly

Yikes! It's been a rough week or two, and I'm glad to be back at my table doing something creative! I continue in my mission of building up my stash of non-cupcake birthday cards. Not that there's anything wrong with cupcake cards — it's just that there's a woman at work who likes to buy my cards, and her friends are just not the cupcake type. Whatever...

Anyhow, I hope you're not going to get tired of seeing butterflies here, because I have plans for LOTS of butterflies. They make me think about summertime, and I am SO over winter! And I just needed to use some of the new goodies I got (after my package took a scenic tour through NYC courtesy of USPS) from Kate at i {heart} papers.

Now, looking at this card, you might think that I die-cut the butterfly out of the pretty paper I used at the bottom. Uh-uh. It came as part of a sheet that's full of go-jus assorted die-cut butterflies that all coordinate with the yummy Amy Butler Tea Box Specialty Paper Pack that's currently ON SALE (!) at i {heart} papers. And guess what! The Pink Stickles that I outlined that pretty butterfly with perfectly match the pink metallic string in Kate's store.

I freehand cut the swirl in the peony paper, and then glued the pink metallic string along the contour. If I could do this card over, I would definitely add some kind of subtle pattern or texture to the brown cardstock, but it is what it is!

What I used:
Stamps: PTI Birthday Basics
Ink: Palette Burnt Umber
Paper: Amy Butler Tea Box Specialty Paper Pack, Tea Box Butterflies Die-Cut Paper, SU! Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla
Other: Pink Stickles, pink metallic string, SU! oval punches, bling (can't remember where it came from!)

Flying Hearts

I've had this little Sizzix envelope die for years, and thought it would look cute with hearts flying out of it for Valentine's Day. The envelope is cut from SU Whisper White, lined with a scrap of something I had left from another project. I attached it with dimensionals so that only the base of the envelope is adhered, and the flap is loose and turned up a little.

I'm not sure I quite pulled this one off — there's a contrast issue with the hearts and the background — but it's a good start. I'll have to play with it a little. Maybe I should just use solid colored hearts...

What I used:
Stamps: PTI Heart Prints
Ink: Regal Rose, Rose Red, PTI Fresh Snow
Paper: PTI white, Rose Red, Pink Pirouette
Other: Sizzix die, Heart Nestabilities, Rose grosgrain ribbon

i {heart} my friends

What is it they say? Friends are the family you give yourself. Now there's absolutely nothing wrong with my family; I must say that my family is probably the most "normal," (practically) drama-free family I know of, and I adore them all. My daughters consider us a boring family. Hey, I'll take boring any day!

But my friends bring an entirely different element into my life. Many different elements, actually. And for them I am immensely grateful. So ladies, you know who you are — this one's for you!

The patterned paper, stamps and some of the other supplies I used are available at i {heart} papers. Kate ships quickly, so you still have time to order for Valentine's Day. And she has a lot of stuff on sale right now!

I'm not sure what, but something is missing from this card. It felt unfinished, somehow, so I added an aura of pale yellow around the bouquet, and then I added some Shimmerz on the cone and leaves, and I covered the hearts with Glossy Accents. Still, it's missing something. I think it needs some kind of something in the lower right corner, but I don't know what. Oh well.... Any ideas?

What I used:
Stamps: Sweet Hearts (Impression Obsession)
Ink: Palette Noir, Copic markers
Paper: PTI White; SU! Cool Caribbean, Regal Rose, So Saffron; Basic Grey Urban Prairie
Other: Nestabilities, Ranger Glossy Accents, Candle Light Shimmerz, SU! circle and scalloped circle punches

CASEing Myself!

Last night, after I submitted my card for the PTI Blog Hop (scroll down to the next post to see that one), I wanted to do it again, but a little differently. I love the combo of black, white and hot pink, so I used Raspberry Fizz instead of the Pure Poppy, switched to a different butterfly punch, and added a little trail of paper piercing. The inside is done exactly the same as the other card, so I didn't bother photographing it again.

I really do love this set — hope you all don't get tired of seeing me use it!

PTI Blog Hop

I just finished a birthday card using some of my brand new Papertrey Ink goodies and was delighted to find that it fit into the theme for this month's Blog Hop, which just happens to be tonight!

I absolutely ADORE the new With Sympathy set. From the very first sneak peek that Nichole gave, I knew that set was mine. I knew that the classic style would find many uses, and of course hoped that I would have very few occasions to use the phrases included in the set (although they are indeed very beautiful).

And just because I couldn't get enough of those gorgeous vines (and because I chose Pure Poppy as my base), I decided to decorate the inside of the card, too.
What I used:
Stamps: With Sympathy, Birthday Basics
Ink: True Black, Pure Poppy
Paper: True Black, Pure Poppy, Stampers Select White
Other: True Black twill, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Nestabilities ribbon tags die, bling (gotta have the bling!)

CHA Sneak Peek: JustRite Stampers

This just in from the JustRite booth at CHA... I am so excited about this first one -- the Demi Phrases Set. I'm guessing it works with the small alphabet set to customize something for every occasion. What a great shortcut!

I think if you click on the pictures you might get a somewhat larger view. And please forgive the pic quality -- I'm doing the best I can with what Kate is sneaking out of there! I'm no Photoshop genius, to be sure.

CHA Sneak Peek: Impressabilities

Looks like Spellbinders is jumping on the embossing sheet wagon -- yay!!!! Metal sheets that emboss like a Cuttlebug folder in 4 designs: Paisley, Butterfly, Snowflake and Flowers. Retail $7
Keep checking back for more. They have actually banned picture taking at CHA this time {sob!}, but somehow Kate has managed to sneak a few!

CHA News and Views — Stay Tuned!!!

Twice a year, the Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) holds a huge show where vendors introduce the new products they will be offering in the coming months. Kate, from our favorite i {heart} papers, is there scouting out the goodies and will be sending me pictures and news tidbits throughout the day, which I will then pass along to you. Stay tuned for what's sure to be some fabulous sneak peeks!

Oh, and my design teammate, Lori, will also be getting other CHA info and pics from Kate throughout the day, so be sure to check out her blog as well. Apparently there's just too much going on for one person to handle it all -- it's gonna take both of us!

Cupcake Trio

I thought I'd try my hand at Taylor's Anniversary Cupcake Challenge. She and 8 of her Cupcake Crew have each presented a different sketch, and this is from Taylor's own sketch (shown below).

I got many of the supplies for this card at i {heart} papers. (enabler alert: Kate is having a HUGE sale there!)

I wish you could see just how shimmery and beautiful this card is. I must have taken about 20 photos trying to show it off in its best light, which is difficult when there is no good light in my apartment!

First of all, the patterned paper has a kind of raised, glazed, glittery pattern over the cross-hatch lines. And the cupcakes, from the Birthday Cupcake stamp set, are colored with Shimmerz. I cut the image out with my Oval Nestabilities, using the die as a mask while I sponged some pink ink around the edges, then mounted it on a Scalloped Oval, which I also sponged around the edges with darker ink. The chipboard hearts were something I've had laying around for ages — can't even remember where or when I got them. It's finished off with some wide grosgrain ribbon and a strip of brushed gold cardstock (to pick up the gold in the patterned paper) that I ran through my Fiskars Threading Water punch.

What I used:
Stamps: Birthday Cupcake (Inkadinkado)
Ink: Palette Noir, Pretty in Pink, Copic markers
Paper: SU! Rose Red, Regal Rose, Brushed Gold; PTI White, My Mind's Eye Flirty Little Girl Smocking
Other: Rose wide grosgrain ribbon, Shimmerz, Nestabilities