Papertrey Blog Hop: Winter Holiday

I don't get a chance to participate in the Papertrey Blog Hops every month anymore, but when I read the theme for this month I knew I wanted to make the time.

From the Papertrey website: "There is always a lot of focus on Christmas in our industry this time of year, as that is what the majority of the population celebrates. However, this month's blog hop is dedicated to those that celebrate winter holidays other than Christmas. Create a project that celebrates Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or some other winter holiday as we embrace everyone's beliefs in a celebration of diversity through paper crafting."

I love the reminder to keep others in mind during the winter holidays. Often I get so busy that I don't remember to take the time and offer well wishes to my friends of other faiths. Hopefully getting a jump on my non-Christmas cards will help me stay on top of those celebrations.


For the blog hop tonight I decided to make a Hanukkah card. I don't own the Mazel Tov set so I created a menorah out of stamps I already have. I started with Fillable Frames #8 and inked only one of the sides. Then I added the candelabra stem using one of the stamps from the Green Thumb set (any line stamp would work). I filled my menorah with candles from the Piece of Cake set, double stamping the candle in the center to make it taller than the others. A small yellow rhinestone was added to the top of each candle to give the card a little interest and shine (Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights, after all).

The base is the Tin Types background stamped on the new Blueberry Sky cardstock in silver ink. The bottom section is a silver paper die cut with the medium scallops border die. I stamped the sentiment from Scattered Showers in a mid-tone blue ink in the corner. The menorah panel was mounted to the base with foam adhesive and Spring Rain saddle stitched ribbon finishes off the whole card rather nicely.

I may not have a specific Jewish set, but I'm really happy with what I was able to pull together with the stamps I already own. I hope you've enjoyed my card this evening. Enjoy the hop!

Recipe:
Cardstock: Blueberry Sky - Papertrey Ink; Luster - Envelopments; white
Stamps: Scattered Showers, Fillable Frames #8, Piece of Cake, Background Basics: Tin Types, Green Thumb - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Spring Rain - Papertrey Ink; Platinum Planet - Brilliance; Atlantic - VersaColor
Tools: Medium Scallops Border Die - Papertrey Ink
Ribbon: Spring Rain Saddle Stitched - Papertrey Ink
Other: Rhinestones - Darice; Foam Adhesive - Scotch

Papertrey 'Preciation

I love Papertrey Ink. This is no surprise to many of you. Their sense of design is awesome and in many ways complements my own. Their customer service has never let me down. And they are all genuinely nice people just trying to share a love of craft with a huge audience. I truly admire and fully appreciate the efforts of Nichole, Julie, Jane, Jenn, and their tireless support staff and design team. They have established a quality company built on high standards that has amassed a loyal, enthusiastic, and (perhaps) slightly crazed following. I am proud to count myself among that group.

So here's to you Papertrey! To the designers who create the artwork for some of my favorite stamps. To the owners who had the courage to put themselves out there in the first place. To the shipping staff who get my supplies to me in incredible time. To the design team who inspire me by showing the possibilities and versatility of each and every set. I thank you all from the bottom of my sneaker-clad tootsies. You're all rock stars.

Recipe:
Cardstock: Simply Chartreuse, Linen Vellum - Papertrey Ink, white
Stamps: Star Prints, Background Basics: Retro, Polka Dot Basics - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Fresh Snow, Lemon Tart - Papertrey Ink; Landscape - Palette; Lagoon Blue - Versa Color
Fibers: Harvest Gold Saddle Stitched Ribbon - Papertrey Ink; Aqua Bakers Twine - Divine Twine
Tools: Ric-Rac Sissors - Kraft Edgers; Circle Die - Quickutz; Large Star Punch - Fiskars
Other: Green Rhinestone - Darice; Foam Tape - Scotch; Vellum Tape - Scotch

Letterpress Debut

I know I go missing for long periods of time and I apologize muchly. Business has been brisk and I'm doing my darnedest to keep up with everything. Unfortunately, blogging is the task that most often falls by the wayside. Today I wanted to share one of the things that has been keeping me so very busy over the last several months.

I decided last summer that I wanted to start doing letterpress prints in addition to the greeting cards and boxed stationery that so many of you have seen at show after show. I promptly got swept up in the bustle that is the fall and winter show seasons and the letterpress prints were relegated to back burner status. This spring I resumed work on the prints, but didn't get my rear into gear until visiting Allison at Igloo Letterpress in Worthington (she's awesome and her shop's amazing). One visit to her shop inspired me to finish what I had been dabbling in here and there for months. I worked on the graphics constantly for the next few weeks and finally sent my artwork to have plates made.

A few days later the plates arrived and I was absolutely giddy (just ask my husband). Then reality set in and after a little trial and quite a lot of error I figured out how to make my temperamental machine create quality prints. I definitely had some low points in there before I got it together. There were smushed images, accidental ink transfer, and a swollen eye (those cleaning chemicals really are eye irritants - I promise), but I finally got everything to work and I couldn't be happier!

The prints are currently for sale at shows (see the sidebar for upcoming events) and at Wholly Craft. I'll have them in the Etsy shop as soon as possible. In the meantime here are a few photos to prove their existence. The Stargazer series is particularly close to my heart (I miss being able to see the stars at night - it's too bright in the city), but each and every one means something special to me.

Ohio Pride


Busy Bee


Perched Cardinal


New Nest


Spring Stargazer


Summer Stargazer


Autumn Stargazer


Winter Stargazer


Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you enjoy the new prints. Take care and have a beautiful weekend!

Craft Show News

Hello Blogland! I have a few projects to share over the coming days, but for now I just want to give an update regarding upcoming shows in the area.

Firstly, the Artisan Sunday event scheduled for July 4th has been cancelled. Am I a little bummed? Sure, but I can't blame the North Market for taking off and getting some R & R. I'm looking forward to the August 1st event when I'll be back and with some (hopefully) new items.

Secondly, the vendor applications are now available for Craftin' Outlaws! The event will be on October 16th at the South Campus Gateway complex. Check out the Craftin' Outlaws website for applications and updates.

That's all I have to share right now. I'll be back this week with an actual project!

Bonus!

Anyone interested in finding me this weekend can do so at the North Market on Sunday (May 30th) from noon to 5:00. This isn't an event I was anticipating so it didn't go out on my newsletter for the month. I had a new few items make their debut at Agora last weekend, so be sure to stop by and check it out if you missed them. Hope to see some of you there!

Another Upcoming Event

Hello all,

I wanted to thank those of you that came out to the Handmade Nation screening this past Saturday. The weather wasn't ideal, but that didn't stop a good number of you from shopping at the trunk show and viewing the film. Again, thank you for your enthusiasm and support!


I also wanted to mention that I have an additional event added to my calendar this month. Agora 7 will be taking place on May 22nd at Junctionview Studios in Grandview. I will be there along with several other local vendors, musicians, artists, and foodies from noon to midnight. It's a really fun event and I'm super excited to be involved again this year. You can get more information about the event at their website here. Hope to see you soon!

The Latest & Greatest

So it's been awhile. The last couple of months have kept me on my toes, which is totally great, but I'm afraid the blog suffers a bit. I just wanted to check in quickly and give a general update for anyone keeping tabs.

I send a monthly newsletter via email and you can now subscribe right here on the blog if you are interested in hearing what's happening with Poshta. The subscription do-hickey is in my sidebar, so if you're reading this through Google Reader you'll need to click through to add your information.


I've been accepted into the North Market Artisan Sundays series this year. I'll be doing the "1st Sundays" series. That means you can find me live and in person the first Sunday of every month (May-October) from Noon-5pm. So if you happen to need, say, a Mother's Day card this weekend (that's right, it starts this weekend), I'm your girl. You can read the press release and check out the list of incredible artisan participants HERE.


Also, the Columbus Crafty Cotillion is co-sponsoring a screening of Handmade Nation (a movie all about indie crafting!) next weekend, May 8th, at Studio 35. The film will begin at 3:00 and is $5 per ticket. But don't wait until 3:00 to arrive. Beginning at 1:00 we will be trunk showing it up! More than a dozen crafty vixens will have handmade goods available for purchase. Come with your momma and let her choose her own Momma's Day present (psst...Mother's Day is May 9th). You can get more information at the Crafty Cotillion blog HERE.

I think that's all for now. I will periodically add upcoming events to the sections in the sidebar and I'll try to remember to write a post about those as well. Hope you're all well and enjoying Spring. Until next time....

Sorry Folks

I apologize, but I'm going to need to turn the word verification back on now that the blog hop is over. I was going to leave it off, but I've been spammed several times in the past few days. Frankly, I don't want to have to police the blog for ED medication ads, so I'm afraid we all lose. I know word verification is sometimes tricky and can act as a deterrent to those of you that are on the fence about commenting, but the switch back needs to happen. I'm sorry, folks. I tried. Thanks for understanding.

February Blog Hop: Design Team Appreciation Day!

Greetings Blog Hoppers! The challenge for tonight's Blog Hop was to choose a project from one of the design team members and use it as inspiration for your own unique project. I decided to welcome two of the newest design team members, Maile Belles and Erin Lincoln, with my cards for tonight.


Let's start with Maile. Maile created this super-cool card using the Fillable Frames set to stamp her background as well as her focal image. I loved her layout and concept, so I used those as my starting point.


I used one of the larger polka dotted circles from Borders & Corners: Circle to create the pattern on my background as well as the frame for my image panel. I stamped the cupcake and sentiment before mounting the image panel over the Lemon Tart ribbon; similar to Maile's panel and ribbon detail on the inspiration card.




Next up is my card inspired by one of Erin's amazing design team projects. Erin showcased the new Luck of the Irish set with this jazzy little number. I'm apparently in a birthday mood, so the St. Patty's day theme didn't carry over, but the layout was like striking (a pot of) gold!


I used the square set-up and the stamped frame as the starting point for my project (I didn't emboss my center like Erin did because I don't have the required tools, but I loved that detail). I stamped my butterflies on cardstock as well as vellum to give them dimensional flare and used my Fillable Frame die and stamp to get the same effect as Erin did with the frame from Luck of the Irish.

I love how both cards turned out! Thanks so much for the inspiration, Maile and Erin!

Take care and happy hopping!

Recipe (cupcake card):
Cardstock: Aqua Mist - Papertrey Ink; white
Stamps: Cupcake Collection, Borders & Corners: Circle - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Lemon Tart, Aqua Mist - Papertrey Ink; Versamark - Tsukineko; Burnt Umber - Palette
Ribbon: Lemon Tart Saddle Stitched - Papertrey Ink
Tools: Nesting Circles Dies - Quickutz
Other: Foam Tape - Scotch

Recipe (butterflies card):
Cardstock: Spring Moss, Linen Vellum - Papertrey Ink; white
Stamps: Fillable Frames #1, Polka Dot Basics, Butterfly Kisses - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, Spring Moss, Fresh Snow - Papertrey Ink
Ribbon: Berry Sorbet Twill - Papertrey Ink
Tools: Fillable Frames Die - Papertrey Ink
Other: White Embroidery Floss - DMC; pink buttons; Foam Tape - Scotch

Glitterati Cupcake

Hello, Blogland! I hope you've been having a lovely week. I got a special request for a very special baby card and I thought I'd share that card today. So, Miss Randi, if you're reading...this one's for you.


I started by stamping the cupcake from Baby Button Bits onto white cardstock (twice) and Berry Sorbet Bitty Box Basics patterned paper. I trimmed the bottom half of the cupcake out of the patterned paper and adhered it directly on top of one of the two white cupcakes. Next, I colored the other cupcake using colored pencils and mineral spirits and trimmed out just the top part. Now here's where I lose my mind just a little and temporarily forget how much I hate loose glitter. I coated the pink part of the cupcake with dimensional glaze and dumped on the glitter. It was everywhere within moments. It's a darn good thing I didn't have to sneeze or I would be finding glitter for ages.


Well, eventually I got the glitter cleaned up sufficiently and put the cupcake under a button container to allow the glaze to dry and to secure the glitter into the glaze as much as possible. I think it worked because I messed with the cupcake this morning before popping the card in the mail and I came away nearly glitter-free. Anyway, after the glaze was dry I stitched on a button and mounted my cupcake top to the main panel with foam tape. The entire main panel was then matted with Sweet Blush cardstock and set aside for a moment.

Next I worked on the ruffle. I cut a piece of saddle stitched ribbon about twice the width of my main panel and pulled one string until the ribbon rusched the way I wanted. I wrapped that around a piece of cardstock just narrower than my main panel and adhered the ends to the back. I first saw this technique from the über talented Lisa Johnson. It adds such awesome texture!

I realized that I needed a base to pull this whole thing together, so I cut a piece of Berry Sorbet and got busy. I started by stamping the largest polka dots from Polka Dot Basics 1 in Fresh Snow ink. I then went back through with the next size polka dot and filled in the spaces between large dots. It's a fun pattern and I feel like I should use it more often.

Anyway, I finished the card by adhering the ruffle panel directly to the base and mounting the cupcake panel over the ruffles with foam tape. I love how the card turned out, but I may lay off the loose glitter for awhile. They make glue suspended glitter just for people like me.

I hope you've enjoyed today's post. Take care and I'll see you soon!

Recipe:
Cardstock: Berry Sorbet, Sweet Blush - Papertrey Ink; white
Stamps: Baby Button Bits, Polka Dot Basics 1 - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Fresh Snow - Papertrey Ink; Burnt Umber - Palette
Ribbon: Lemon Tart Saddle Stitched - Papertrey Ink
Other: Colored Pencils - Prismacolor; Embroidery Floss - DMC; Foam Tape - Scotch; Glossy Accents - Ranger; button; mineral spirits; loose glitter

The Party Continues

Happy Valentine's Day, Blogland! Well, I'm back home after spending most of last week with family. It was nice, but I missed being home. I also missed being able to participate in the Papertrey anniversary challenges. So today I made sure to get my craft on!

Today's challenge was to make a sheet of handmade floral embellishments and incorporate them into a card. I chose to bust out some poppies thanks to Lisa Johnson's Remember set. I'll start by showing you the embellishments (please pardon the glare).


I stamped the large and small poppies and the poppy bud in charcoal ink. Then I used Terracotta Tile, Pure Poppy, and Sweet Blush for the solid images. I cut out the flowers and embellished them with all sorts of things. The larger poppies have buttons and Fun Flock. The smaller poppies have buttons, Fun Flock, and black rhinestones. Next, I stamped the leaves in Ripe Avocado and Spring Moss inks before cutting them out and attaching a small strip of foam tape to the back of all the images. I used Scor-Tape to attach all the bits & pieces to a sheet of acetate and then slipped the sheet into a greeting card sleeve. I created my topper in Illustrator and adhered that to the sleeve using Scor-Tape.


My card for today features the Blush poppy. The center of this one is the Fun Flock. I stamped the stem (though you could draw one if you were in a rush or didn't have your stamp handy) and sentiment onto white cardstock and layered that with a thin mat of Smoky Shadow. I attached the bloom and the leaves before mounting the focal panel to the Spring Moss base (already stamped with polka dots and tied with Sweet Blush twill).

I hope you've enjoyed today's project! Until next time, I wish you all a day filled with love. Ta-ta!

Recipe (for everything):
Cardstock: Spring Moss, Smoky Shadow - Papertrey Ink; white
Stamps: Remember, Polka Dot Basics 2 - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Terracotta Tile, Pure Poppy, Sweet Blush, Ripe Avocado, Spring Moss, Fresh Snow - Papertrey Ink; Charcoal, Noir - Palette
Ribbon: Sweet Blush Twill - Papertrey Ink
Other: black buttons; black embroidery floss - DMC; Foam Tape - Scotch; Black Fun Flock - Stampendous; Clear Rhinestone (colored with a Sharpie) - Darice; acetate; greeting card sleeve; Adobe Illustrator; glue pen

A New Technique

The Papertrey birthday festivities are fully underway and today's announcement (How-To Videos and weekly challenges!) included a challenge to use the emboss resist technique in one's project. I had never tried this particular technique and it was fun to try something new and step outside my comfort zone a little.


I started by stamping tiny Aqua Mist polka dots and Water Lily Green flower clusters onto white cardstock. It's important to remember that anything you eventually want layered on your embossed image has to be stamped first because once that embossing powder is set there's really no stamping on top of it. After my dots and flowers had fully dried (you can speed the process with a heat gun) I stamped the cake with VersaMark and embossed it with clear powder. Next, I sponged Aqua Mist ink over the entire image and matted it to a layer of Aqua Mist cardstock that had been sponged with Water Lily Green ink (I didn't really have anything on hand that was the right color otherwise). I added a die cut cake plate and a few punched flowers embellished with rhinestones before setting the focal image aside for a moment.


Next, I repeatedly stamped an image from Giga Guidelines onto Aqua Mist cardstock using white ink. Once the ink was dry, I stamped the sentiment in silver ink and heat embossed again using clear powder. I mounted that patterned layer to a white base and wrapped the entire card with knotted white ribbon. Finally, I mounted the cake image to the base with foam adhesive.

It's relatively simple, but I had fun trying a new technique. Enjoy the rest of the birthday bash and I'll see you again soon!

Recipe:
Cardstock: Aqua Mist - Papertrey Ink, Silver - Paper Source; White
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics 2, Scattered Showers, Piece of Cake, Giga Guidelines - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Fresh Snow, Aqua Mist - Papertrey Ink; Water Lily Green - Palette; Starlite Silver - Brilliance
Tools: Flower Punch - EK Success; Floral Corner Punch - Fiskars; Cake Plate Die (discontinued)- Quickutz
Other: Rhinestones - Darice; White ribbon - May Arts; Foam tape - Scotch; Clear Embossing Powder

Papertrey Ink Turns Three!

Hello Blogland! Did you know that Papertrey Ink turns three this year?! I am so excited and totally looking forward to the birthday festivities over the next couple of weeks. Today Nichole announced the stamp design team and issued a challenge to use one (or more) of a series of graphics created by this year's stamp designers to make a card. I would have loved to play along with each and every designer, but alas, time was not on my side toady. I chose the image that I was most pumped about at first sight to create my card. This cupcake image was designed by Heather Nichols and I am absolutely smitten. She always seems to design images that really get me ready to create something. I love that!


So to start today's card I downloaded the image from Heather's blog and printed it once on copy paper to get an idea of the size. I wanted the cupcake to have a little more weight on my card so I placed it in Illustrator and made it about twice the size it was in the original download (to be honest, I just eyeballed it - nothing fancy). I printed my cardstock with two images on a sheet (you could fit several more though) because I knew I wanted to die cut one into a circle and trim one out to pop with foam tape. I stamped the sentiment onto the circle with the cuppie and mounted the loose cupcake with aforementioned foam tape.


The focal panel was adhered to a scalloped circle and foam mounted to a 5 1/2" square base that had been stamped with polka dots and tied with ribbon. Finally, I bedazzled the heck out of the cupcake with glitter and called it good. Quick and easy and so much fun! I love it when a card comes together faster than I expect (especially when I love the finished result). Hope you're all enjoying the Papertrey festivities. Have a great time and I'll see you soon!

Recipe:
Cardstock: Aqua Mist, Ocean Tides - Papertrey Ink; Ultimate White - Strathmore
Digital Image: Cupcake - Heather Nichols (for Papertrey Ink)
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics 2, Everyday Button Bits - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Fresh Snow - Papertrey Ink; Burnt Umber - Palette
Ribbon: Lemon Tart Saddle Stitched Ribbon - Papertrey Ink
Tools: Nesting Flowers, Nesting Circles Dies - Quickutz; Corner Chomper - We R Memory Keepers
Other: Frosted Lace Stickles - Ranger; Foam Tape - Scotch

A Real, Honest-to-Goodness Project!

Hello Blogland! Well, I've been prattling on about how I was hoping to share an actual project now for awhile, so I thought I might go ahead and do that this evening. I held off buying the Everyday Button Bits stamp set from Papertrey for months. I'd look at it every once in awhile and wax poetic about what might be, but ultimately end up removing it from my shopping cart; preferring instead something practical like stamp cleaner or cardstock or ribbon.

Then, last month I received a gift certificate for Christmas and that stamp set found its way to my house before I could talk myself out of its purchase. I was so happy when it arrived I showed Sean at least a half-dozen times. He, of course, couldn't care less, but tried to match my enthusiasm anyway.


This card is one of the first I made with the set. I loved the hot air balloons image from the moment I saw it during the countdown week. And the sentiment is so totally perfect. There are several in the set that coordinate well with the image, but I thought this one would be cute for my first effort.

So anyway, I started by stamping the polka dots onto Aqua Mist cardstock and rounding the corners on my card base. Then I stamped my balloon baskets onto white cardstock using Burnt Umber ink and stitched on a few buttons. I adhered my white panel onto the card base and stamped my sentiment in Burnt Umber as well.


Then I free-hand cut a couple of little hills from patterned paper and stitched along the top edge to give them a little texture. I rounded their bottom corners and mounted those to the white base with foam adhesive. And there it is. A lovely little "pick-me-up" card for a friend having a bad week. Not that I'm hoping any of my friends have a bad week or anything, but it would be totally fun to send this to somebody. I can be patient...ish.

Well, I hope it's been worth the wait (or at least worth the visit). Take care and have a happy tomorrow!

Recipe:
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics, Everyday Button Bits - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Aqua Mist, Stamper's Select White - Papertrey Ink
Patterned Paper: Bitty Box Basics (Spring Moss, Ripe Avocado) - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Burnt Umber - Palette; VersaMark - Tsukineko
Embellishments: Vintage Buttons (Ripe Avocado, Melon Berry, Aqua Mist) - Papertrey Ink; Embroidery Floss - DMC
Other: Foam Tape - Scotch; Corner Chomper - We R Memory Keepers

What I've Been Up To

Hello, Blogland! It's been awhile, hasn't it? I'm afraid I haven't been able to blog recently as I've been hyperfocused on business as of late. I hope you're all well and the new year is treating you kindly. I've been adding new Valentine's Day cards to the Etsy shop recently. There are several there in the "Seasonal" section. Here are a few little peeks if you're interested:


I hope to add more of the non-holiday stock to the shop soon, too. If you ever have a question or special request just let me know and I'll let you know if I have something on hand. If not, most times I can get something put together in short order.

Hopefully, in the next week or so I will have something a little more exciting to share. Until then, all the best!