Papertrey Blog Hop: Patterned Paper

Welcome to Blog Hop!  This month's challenge was to build your own patterned paper using any of Papertrey's fantabulous stamps.  What a fun challenge! I chose to start with the dashed background from Background Basics: Retro and used the dotted line and one of the solid lines from Faux Ribbon. I used these three stamps to create my patterned paper. It's sort of a springtime plaid and I love it!



I rounded the corners and adhered that layer to a Spring Moss base. Then, I took a strip of coral cardstock and stamped it twice with the scalloped image from Beyond Basic Borders. I used a strip of Lemon Tart Twill tied with a knot to hide the seam. That was then added to the patterned layer.



My focal point is the wreath and berry image from Rustic Branches stamped in Spring Moss and Melon Berry inks. I added the sentiment from Limitless Labels in the center of the wreath to sort of fill the space and give the card a purpose. I cut out the wreath and mounted it to a scalloped circle of Spring Moss cardstock before adhering the whole thing to the base with foam tape. A little glitter on the berries and this card was finished!

I hope you've all enjoyed tonight's card. Try building your own patterned paper...it's a whole lot of fun!

Recipe:
Cardstock: Spring Moss - Papertrey Ink, coral - Bazzill, Ultimate White - Strathmore
Stamps (a slew of them today): Beyond Basic Borders, Faux Ribbon, Rustic Branches, Background Basics: Retro, Limitless Labels - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Lemon Tart, Spring Moss, Melon Berry - Papertrey Ink, Frost White - Colorbox
Ribbon: Lemon Tart Twill - Papertrey Ink
Other: Foam tape - Scotch

Not Crafting Made Me Cranky

So...I tried to put a moratorium on crafting until the taxes were done.  But frankly, it just made me cranky and a lot less likely to cheerfully sit down and comb through Quickbooks.  I decided today I was going to make something.  And I did.  And I liked it.  And I'll post it in awhile.  Ahhh......

Nothing Is Certain...

But death and taxes.  I'm currently being consumed by the latter.  I don't have any projects at the moment, but I do have some good news.  I am very excited to have been accepted into the CTA Craftstravaganza on April 26th (that's a Sunday).  I'll explain more in the coming weeks, but right now I am being summoned by QuickBooks.  Have a good weekend and try to enjoy some sunshine (thank goodness for laptops).

When I Said Tomorrow...

On Thursday I said I was updating the Etsy store on Friday.  I lied.  Apparently what I meant was I'm updating the Etsy store on Monday.  So there it is.  The store has been updated and I apologize for the delay.  Check it out!

Get Well Mr. Blue Jacket

Apparently when Sean asked me to make a card for someone I regularly see skating around on television my little creative brain decided to freeze for three days.  That's a very long time to sit on one's studio floor surrounded by paper and ribbon scraps.  I'm used to making "man cards" that include things like glitter (Sean is very tolerant) and I didn't think that sort of embellishment would fly on a card for a pro athlete.  I went with twine and copper brads instead (though I did sneak in a little ribbon).

I started with a Kraft base that I stamped with the linear design from Background Basics: Retro.  In order to get a really straight, consistent pattern I lightly penciled my lines onto my base before I stamped them.  I think I'll use a brown pencil in the future, but it's not really visible so I'm not going to fret too much about the residual lines.

Next, I stamped the branchy tree image from Beyond Basic Borders onto white cardstock, sponged the edges and rounded the corners.  I mounted that to a piece of Spring Moss (also with rounded corners) and stamped my sentiment (from Faux Ribbon) in Ripe Avocado.  Then, I took tiny strips of Spring Moss cardstock and ran them through the Cuttlebug with a Quickutz die to get the tiny dots.  I would have loved to use a punch, but I didn't have on in the right size, so I opted for the little rocket die instead (the circles are the windows).  I adhered those to the end of the branches and let that dry while I sponged the base with Burnt Umber ink.

When the dots were dry, I wrapped the focal layer with a strip of Ripe Avocado saddle stitched ribbon and a little twine.  A brad was popped right over top of the twine to add a little more masculine appeal.  Those layers were adhered to the base using foam tape and I added a little clear glaze over the branchy dots.

I think it's a mighty nice little card.  I hope he likes it.  Gosh, I've never been nervous over a card like this before.  I was close to nervous all through the Gallery Idol contest last year, but this is intense.  I think it's because I'm trying two make to boys happy at once.  Or maybe it's because if one of those boys isn't happy he could snap my dear little husband like a hockey stick.  Or maybe it's because I can't get over the feeling that randomly sending a pro athlete a "get well" card is a little creepy, no matter how often he came into your restaurant and chatted with you over flatbread.  Whatever the reason...enjoy!

Recipe:

Cardstock: Kraft, Spring Moss - Papertrey Ink; Ultimate White - Sthrathmore

Stamps: Beyond Basic Borders, Faux Ribbon, Background Basics: Retro - Papertrey Ink

Ink: Ripe Avocado - Papertrey Ink; Frost White - Colorbox; Burnt Umber - Palette

Ribbon: Ripe Avocado Saddle Stitched - Papertrey Ink; Hemp Twine - Darice

Tools: Medium Corner Rounder (green) - EK Success; Rocket Die - Quickutz; Cuttlebug - Provocraft

Metal Embellishment: Copper Mini Brad - American Crafts

Other: Foam Tape - Scotch; Glossy Accents - Ranger

Crafting and Hockey Come Together

Boy: Would you make (Insert name of recently injured Blue Jackets player here.) a get well card if I can find his address in the white pages?

Girl: Seriously?

Boy: Yes.

Girl: I suppose so. (The Girl is totally thinking that there is no way a professional hockey player has a publicly listed phone number and address; therefore, there is no way she is going to have to make a greeting card for said hockey player. Right?)

Boy: Great. (A few moments of clickety clicking on the white pages.) Here's his address would you like me to write it down for you?

Girl: You're kidding. (Wrong. Way wrong.)

Boy: Nope. Could you do it by Saturday so I can pop it in the mail? Or is that too soon? Will you use the team colors?

Girl: (Still stunned.) No, Saturday's fine, but I'm using whatever color scheme I want.

Boy: Ok. Thanks, Cookie.

Girl: My pleasure.

You can't make this stuff up, people.  You just can't.

News

I'm working on some things I can't share quite yet, but I did want to fill you all in on some news. First of all, Olivera at Wholly Craft is now carrying a selection of my cards and stationery sets. If any of you are in the Columbus area it's a great shop run by a very cool lady. Secondly, I plan to update the Etsy site tomorrow in case anyone has been waiting for new items. Thirdly, the mail issue still isn't fixed, so if anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them. I hope everyone is doing well. I'm sorry I've been living under a rock for the last week or so. I hope to emerge shortly. Ta-ta.

Long Time No See

I've been working on some cards for a local place. I'll divulge a little more info later, but suffice it to say that project has been my priority over the past few days and I just haven't been making things to share. I needed a little break, so I looked up Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge this week and tried my hand.



Now, I rarely use these colors, but I figured I could come up with a little something. I went the wedding route with this card.



I started by cutting a piece of lighter brown cardstock and stamping it with the eyelet pattern from Background Basics: Retro. I used iridescent fabric paint to dot the itty bitty circles in that pattern. While that was drying, I used a new EK Success border punch to create the pink scalloped trim. The Sweet Blush twill was tied around the brown layer and the pink trim was adhered to the back. That entire piece was then mounted to a white card base.



The dress was created by punching the shape from a piece of Bazzill Bling cardstock and adding some pink vellum trim. I used that same fabric paint to add the details to the waistline and hem. When the paint had dried on the dress I mounted it with foam tape to an oval of brown cardstock that had been sponged with Frost White ink. That was then adhered to the lighter brown layer and the card was finished by stamping the sentiment in the lower right hand corner. Hope you liked today's card. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Recipe:
Cardstock: Diamond (Bling), Brown, Light Brown, Pink - Bazzill; Ultimate White - Strathmore; Pink Vellum - Unknown
Stamps: Background Basics: Retro, Simple Little Things (Anniversary Set) - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Burnt Umber - Palette; Frost White - Colorbox
Ribbon: Sweet Blush Twill - Papertrey Ink
Tools: Dotted Scallops Border Punch - EK Success; Oval Punch (pink) - Marvy, Dress Punch - Paper Shapers (EK Success)
Other: Iridescent White Mist Fabric Paint - Duncan; Foam Tape - Scotch

Technical Difficulties

I installed Leopard onto my laptop this afternoon and now my email won't work. Luckily, Gmail saves everything, so I didn't actually lose anything, but now I can't even send an email unless I go to the Google homepage. And all of my emails have been wiped from my mail program. And Mail won't quit either. I tried to restart and Mail being open totally overrode my shut down command. Does anyone know how to fix this? I admit. I have a love/hate relationship with Apple. The guys at the Genius Bar are always just a little too condescending. It makes me want to shout something about not living in my parents' basement and getting some sun once in a while (I don't even know where the compulsion comes from, but it happens every time). I really don't want to go to them. Please help!

Manly Birthday

I don't know about you, but I have trouble with masculine cards. They always turn out a little girly or unsatisfying in one way or another. When I saw the Card Positioning Systems sketch this week I thought it might lend itself to a manly card (what with the straight lines and quadrants and all). A special Mister in our lives has a birthday coming up soon and I figured I could give this sketch the ol' college try just for him.



I started by finding a patterned paper that had some strong colors and no flowers. Generally I would go for plaid for a masculine card, but I didn't like any of my plaid paper's flip sides. I found this paisley and didn't think it screamed "Hey Lady!" so I thought I'd give it a shot. I cut my quadrants (two A side, two B side) and adhered them to a piece of white cardstock. I set that aside for a moment.

I took a look in my chipboard collection (which somehow became expansive when I wasn't paying attention) and chose this brackety/labely thing from Basic Grey. I covered it in some random burgundy paper and used it to frame a birthday sentiment from Birthday Basics.

I took some Ripe Avocado twill and wrapped it around my original layer before attaching my brackety/labely thing with white brads. I mounted that entire layer to a blue base and considered it a success. Hope you enjoyed it. Have a good one!

Recipe:
Cardstock: Blue - Bazzill, White linen - Archivers, burgundy - unknown
Patterned Paper: Mini Gazebo Paisley (front & back) - Chatterbox
Stamps: Birthday Basics - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Bamboo - Versacolor
Embellishments: Chipboard Frame - Basic Grey; White Mini Brads - American Crafts
Ribbon: Ripe Avocado Twill - Papertrey Ink

Poppy Birthday!

This morning I received Papertrey's stamp set Remember in the mail and I need a birthday card for a very special lady next week (ard-cay or-fay Andi-Ray...figure out that code), so I took the opportunity to whip up this little beauty today. I also wanted to participate in sketch #4 over at Card Patterns this week and I thought this set would be perfect.



I knew I wanted my oval image to slightly overlap the side of my base, so I cut my Kraft a little narrower than I would for a regular A2 card. I stamped the scalloped border image from Beyond Basic Borders in Ripe Avocado ink and followed with Polka Dots in Versamark.

Then I took an oval of Spring Moss cardstock and stamped my stem and leaf in Ripe Avocado (the inner leaf is Spring Moss). I wanted to fill the "negative" space so I stamped one of the swirls from Remember in Versamark over the entire oval. The poppy itself was stamped with Pure Poppy and Burnt Umber inks onto white cardstock and trimmed using precision scissors. I mounted the poppy using foam tape.



You know how poppies have a fuzzy center? Well I wanted a fuzzy center. I took my bottle of Glue Pad refill and dabbed it onto the center of my flower. I used white Fun Flock (I don't have dark brown) and colored it once it had dried. Voila! Instant (mostly) fuzzy center.

Before I attached my flower to the base I sponged it with brown ink and wrapped the cardstock with Pure Poppy stitched ribbon and some 1/4" double faced satin. I stamped my sentiment with Pure Poppy ink and mounted my poppy with foam adhesive to finish the card.

I hope you like. Have a great tomorrow!

Recipe:
Cardstock: Kraft, Spring Moss - Papertrey Ink; Ultimate White - Strathmore
Stamps: Remember, Beyond Basic Borders, Polka Dot Basics, Out On A Limb (original size) - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Pure Poppy, Spring Moss, Ripe Avocado - Papertrey Ink; Burnt Umber - Palette; Versamark, Glue Pad (refill) - Tsunikeko
Ribbon: Pure Poppy Saddle Stitched - Papertrey Ink; Brown Double-faced Satin - American Crafts
Tools: Medium Corner Rounder (green) - EK Success
Other: White Fun Flock - Stampendous; Foam Tape - Scotch

Kristina Werner Color Inspiration #43

I have wanted to participate in Kristina Werner's color challenges for some time now, but just never found the opportunity. This week I wanted to make sure I got the chance to join in the fun. I don't have the Stampin' Up colors that Ms. Werner references, but I tried to get as close as I could with what I had on hand.



Here's my card using the colors from the Color Inspiration swatches.



I started with piece of green Bazzill cardstock. I flipped it to its "wrong" side and stamped one of the polka dots from Polka Dot Basics in Burnt Umber ink. I used a scalloped punch to give the green cardstock a decorative edge and wrapped it with Summer Sunrise twill ribbon before mounting it to a piece of white cardstock with red edges (achieved by dragging the cardstock along my Pure Poppy ink pad). I mounted that piece to a blue Bazzill base and set it aside.

Then I started thinking about the focal image. I stamped the open line branch from Rustic Branches onto white cardstock (also with red edges) in Landscape ink. The Beyond Basic Borders sentiment was then stamped using Burnt Umber ink. I took a blue button and threaded it with red embroidery floss and attached it to the image with red line tape. Finally, I mounted the focal image to the green layer using foam tape.

I had a lot of fun with this color inspiration. Hope you enjoyed the card! Take care...

Recipe:
Cardstock: Ultimate White - Strathmore; Blue, Green - Bazzill Basics
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics, Beyond Basic Borders, Rustic Branches - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Landscape, Burnt Umber - Palette; Pure Poppy - Papertrey Ink
Ribbon: Summer Sunrise Twill - Papertrey Ink
Tools: Scalloped Border Punch - EK Success
Other: Red Embroidery Floss - DMC; Foam Tape - Scotch; Button