Baby Bear Card

Hello, Blogland! I hope you're having a nice day. We had some brutal storms overnight and into this morning, but it seems that the wind is all that remains now. My fella is out of town on business, so the kitties and I huddled together for comfort last night. It wasn't as bad as the day the side door was ripped off the house, but it wasn't a lot of fun either.

I have a card to share today, but I wanted to make mention of one little bit of business first. The deadline for voting in the Columbus Alive's Best of Columbus poll is tomorrow at Noon. If you're interested in voting you can find the ballot HERE. Poshta has been nominated for "Best brand without a storefront" (located on page 2 of the ballot, for those who have asked). Thank you to all of you who have already voted and to those of you who will do so up until the closing bell.

So on to the card! A couple of weeks ago my Mother-In-Law asked me to make her a handful of baby cards for some new arrivals expected in the next month. I really enjoy making baby cards, but haven't had much designing time lately, so I was happy to have an excuse to get back in the studio for awhile. This is the first of the cards that I put together for her.

I used the frame from Luck of the Irish to create the patterned paper and trimmed the top edge with pinking scissors for a decorative touch. The teddy was colored with colored pencils and mineral spirits before being embellished with a paper button.

I love making buttons like these because they're easier to mail than traditional buttons and I can stamp them with different patterns. To make the buttons I first stamp my pattern onto thick, cotton letterpress stock and run it face down through a Xyron machine. Next, I remove the waxy paper backing and cover the sticky side with plastic wrap (yes, the stuff from the kitchen). I smooth it down and then die cut my button. The plastic wrap makes the surface shiny and the die cutting makes it conform to the edges of the button to make it look nice and finished. To give the button a little more thickness I die cut a plain shape and adhere the two together with wet adhesive, taking care to line up the button holes carefully. I press the two under an acrylic block until I'm ready to use them. It sounds like a lot of steps, but I really love the way they look when they're finished.

The card is pretty simple, otherwise. I stamped my base with white polka dots and the sentiment before adhering on the patterned paper layer. I used my favorite ribbon and baker's twine treatment before adding my teddy bear panel with foam adhesive.

Well, that's all for me. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Recipe:
Stamps: Baby Button Bits, Luck of the Irish, Bitty Background Blocks, Polka Dot Basics, Everyday Classics (Anniversary Set) - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Aqua Mist, Lemon Tart - Papertrey Ink; white
Ink: Spring Moss, Aqua Mist, Smoky Shadow, Fresh Snow - Papertrey Ink
Other: Simply Chartreuse Saddle Stitched Ribbon, Button Die - Papertrey Ink; Oyster Baker's Twine - Divine Twine; Colored Pencils - Prismacolor; mineral spirits; pinking scissors; White embroidery floss - DMC; plastic wrap; Sticker maker - Xyron

Little Man's Birthday Card

Hello, Blogland! This weekend is my nephew's first birthday and I thought I'd share his birthday card here (I'm pretty sure he doesn't read yet). We won't be able to get down to Tennessee to celebrate with him, but I think he'll know that we're all tickled pink for him up here in Ohio.

I started by die cutting the frog and lily pad images from Boy Basics: Frog Hop along with one of the Half & Half strips. Then, I stamped the pattern on my strip, leaving space for my sentiment. I stamped the lily pad image with watermark ink and the frog with Smoky Shadow. The frog got the colored pencil and mineral spirits treatment before all the bits and pieces were adhered to a Hawaiian Shores base (textured with the Canvas Impression Plate. The final touch was adding some google eyes. I'm not sure that a one year-old is really going to care much about his birthday card, but I hope the google eyes catch his attention for a moment or two.

A pretty simple card, but that's usually the way I like them. Thanks for stopping by for a visit. Enjoy your day!

Recipe:
Stamps: Everyday Classics (Anniversary Set), Half & Half, Boy Basics: Frog Hop - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Hawaiian Shores, Simply Chartreuse - Papertrey Ink; white
Ink: Aqua Mist, Smoky Shadow - Papertrey Ink; Versamark - Tsukineko
Tools: Half & Half Dies, Frog Hop Dies, Linen & Canvas Impression Plate - Papertrey Ink; circle dies - Quickutz
Other: Colored Pencils - Prismacolor; Foam Tape - Scotch; google eyes; mineral spirits

The Press

Hello, Blogland. Today I want to share the story of how a Chandler & Price New Style letterpress machine came to have its own bedroom in my house. It's kind of long and text heavy (there's not a great time to take photos when you're covered in motor oil), but it's a good story.

Fully reassembled C&P New Style 8x12 Press
The serial number dates this press to 1920

In the winter of 2010 (December-ish) I was working here and there at Igloo Letterpress. One day, a gentleman came into the studio asking if Allison knew of anyone with the need for a press. It had belonged to his father-in-law and the family had decided it was time to send the machine to live with someone that could use it (it had been sitting, retired, in a basement in West Virginia for at least a decade). Allison told the man that she didn't have space in her studio for another press, but she would be glad to help him find someone that would treat the machine well. I'd practically been salivating the entire time, so the moment he left Allison turned to me and said, "It's all yours if you want it."

I went straight to Northstar and cornered Sean. He showed genuine enthusiasm and we started making plans right away. I contacted the gentleman that had come into the studio and we discussed the machine's condition and travel plans. After a bit of back and forth we settled on a day in early March to caravan down to West Virginia and take on the task of disassembling and moving the 800lb press (keep that 800lb number in mind).

Accompanied by two mechanically inclined and...um...buff...friends, Kelly and Troy, we went to work on step number one of disassembling the press (as detailed to us by Allison's very helpful husband Jon). Step number one is "remove the flywheel." The flywheel wouldn't budge. That was just the beginning of the most physically challenging day of my adult life (I have plenty of adult life yet to face, but shy of wrestling a baby elephant, I think this experience may take the cake for awhile). Not the least of our problems was realizing once we arrived that the press actually weighed around 1200lbs fully assembled. That's right, I said 1200lbs. A full 400lbs more than originally estimated. We took the machine down as far as we could, but the largest piece still weighed around 700lbs. After about six hours and much heaving, we finally got the press loaded into a UHaul trailer. We were all exhausted when we finally arrived back in Columbus around 10:30pm.

Since it was so late when we got home, we waited until the next morning to unload the trailer. I should start by saying that we did this whole thing the wrong way. We didn't know it at the time, but that's the truth. Do not do what we did - hire movers. For reals. Anyway, in order to remove the main section of the machine from the trailer we had to wrap tow straps around the center section and then toss the straps over the top of the trailer. Then, we stuck a 2x4 through the tow strap handle and I stood on the 2x4 and acted as a counterbalance so the three fellas could guide the press safely to the ground. Each time the press needed to be lowered I would lift myself up little by little until I was eventually laying completely prone on top of the UHaul trailer. I'm sure my neighbors were thrilled.

And then the press sat, for months, in our shed (no one was going to steal it) until we had the spare room to devote to a machine. Finally, in November, we were able to get piano movers (we got smart) to bring it from the shed into a first-floor bedroom. We had them check our floors beforehand just to make sure it would be safe.

Main Frame; this is the largest section that wasn't disassembled

And then it sat, again, until this weekend when Sean, my Dad, and I rolled up our sleeves and set our minds to reassembly. We had everything set out and ready to go when Dad arrived on Saturday just before noon.

Bed, Roller Arm (aka "Small Dog Bone") with Counter, Back Throw Off Connection

Main Shaft, Gear Housing, Shaft Collars, Bed Shaft, a bunch of labeled parts baggies

Roller Frame & Platen

Top of the Bed, Side Arms aka "Dog Bones", Throw Off Lever, Ink Plate Bracket

After all the trouble we had getting the press disassembled, we were sure it was going to take a full day or two to get it put back together, but it only took three hours. Three. To say that we were relieved is an understatement. Now there's a fully-functioning (once it gets new rollers) 1920 letterpress living in our back bedroom. She looks good for 92 years old.

Thanks for checking in today. I have a bit of work to do this week, but I hope to post an actual project soon. Have a great day!

Global Greetings Delay

Due to customer feedback and my personal errors the Global Greetings series will be temporarily delayed. I truly apologize for any inconvenience. The revisions are underway and I will make sure to post a few more projects when the sets are ready. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Have a nice day and enjoy the release.

Global Greetings - Day 4

Hello there, Blogland! I hope you're enjoying Papertrey Ink's 5th Anniversary festivities. Only a couple more days before the release arrives! That's cause for celebration, so today we're going to celebrate with the French and Italian sets.

First up today we have a wedding ensemble featuring the Global Greetings: French set (available February 15th). I started by cutting two Front & Center #2 faces out of Aqua Mist cardstock and stamped the front with one of the medallions from Giga Guidelines. The faces were then adhered to a white lunch sack. Next, I took a piece of Soft Stone and sprayed it liberally with Pearl Glimmer Mist and placed it under a book until it was dry and flat.

In the meantime, I die cut a couple of bells from the Bells & Boughs set, stamped the cuts with silver ink, and finished them by heat embossing with clear powder. The dies were then hole punched and tied together with a length of 1/4" silk ribbon that I dyed with a marker. I finished off the bells with a few rhinestones (also colored with a marker) and set them aside.

Once the Soft Stone was ready I die cut it with the Mat Stack 4 Layerz die and stamped it with my sentiment in Plum Pudding ink. That piece was then mounted to my bag front with foam tape and topped with the bells I had already finished. In order to get a lot of dimension on the bells I added three layers of foam tape under the smaller bell. That lifted the bell away from the larger one and really gave a sense of drama and movement.

The steps for the card were much the same. The card measures 3 1/2" x 5." The petite size complements the bag nicely.

The second project for today is a general party bag featuring the Italian "congratulations" sentiment. This project would be great for someone recently promoted, graduated, or retiring (just a few examples). The colors could also be easily adjusted to fit the favorites of the recipient.

To start, I cut the Front & Center #1 twice out of Pure Poppy cardstock and stamped the front with the smallest dots in Polka Dot Basics 1. Then, I embellished the Front & Center piece with a strip of Aqua Mist ribbon and some baker's twine before attaching it to another little lunch bag.

Next, I cut the white stock and stamped it with the banner wires and sentiment from Global Greetings: Italian (available February 15th). Then, much like yesterday's cupcake card, I started randomly stamping the little flags to disperse the color in a way that I found visually appealing. There's really no rhyme or reason to the order. Once I had filled in all the little flags, I matted that piece with Harvest Gold cardstock and mounted the whole thing to the bag front with foam tape.

Just like with the first set, the steps for the petite coordinating card were much the same as for the bag.

That's all for me today. Thank you for stopping by and I hope to see you tomorrow for the final day of this month's countdown. Make sure to visit Nichole, Heather, Maile, Lisa, Melissa, and Tiffany for more projects and inspiration.

All products are from Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
French Wedding Suite Recipe:
Stamps: Giga Guidelines, Bells & Boughs, Global Greetings: French
Cardstock: Aqua Mist, Soft Stone; generic white
Ink: Fresh Snow, Plum Pudding; Starlight Black - Brilliance
Other: 1/4" white silk ribbon, Filigree embossing powder, Front & Center #2 Die, Bells & Boughs dies, Mat Stack #4 Layerz die; Markers - Sharpie; generic rhinestones; foam tape - Scotch; white lunch sack - Target; Pearl Glimmer Mist - Tattered Angels

Italian Congratulations Set Recipe:
Stamps: It's A Celebration, Polka Dot Basics, Global Greetings: Italian
Cardstock: Pure Poppy, Harvest Gold; generic white
Ink: Smoky Shadow, Pure Poppy, Aqua Mist, New Leaf; yellow pigment - Studio G; Versamark - Tsukineko
Other: Front & Center #1 Die, Aqua Mist Saddle Stitched Ribbon; Oyster Baker's Twine - Divine Twine; Foam Tape - Scotch; White Lunch Sack - Target

Global Greetings - Day 3

Hello, Blogland! Today is Day 3 of the February Paperytrey Ink release countdown and we're celebrating birthdays! I've put together a couple of cards showcasing the birthday sentiments from Global Greetings: German and Italian (available on February 15th). Let's get started...

First up is a little Black Forest cupcake card. I thought that seemed like an appropriate flavor to use with the "Gute Zum Geburtstag" sentiment from the German version of the series. I started by die cutting and stamping a Half & Half strip, leaving a space for the sentiment between the pattern stamps. Next, I die cut a circle and stamped the bottom half of my cupcake. The top part of my cupcake was die cut from Dark Chocolate cardstock, stamped with watermark ink, and heat embossed using clear, ultra-fine embossing powder.

The next step was to apply white liquid appliqué and heat emboss it. The result resembles the whipped cream in a Black Forest cake. I stitched on a Pure Poppy "cherry" and mounted the cupcake top to my prepared circle. That whole piece was mounted to my Half & Half strip with foam tape. The final step was mounting the entire focal strip to the Kraft base textured with the Woodgrain Impression plate  (woodgrain...Black Forest...get it?). Sorry, my nerdiness eeked out there for a second. Moving on...

Today's second card involved creating patterned paper using the Cupcake Collection cupcakes. I began stamping my sweet treats at the bottom of the stock and worked my way toward the top, alternating colors and tops/bottoms as I went. Once that was finished, I hand-stitched a pinked border to the edge and adhered it to a Berry Sorbet base that had been stamped with Fresh Snow polka dots.

The sentiment was stamped in Aqua Mist ink and matted with a bit of Sweet Blush cardstock. The Spring Moss loop/swallow tail ribbon treatment was adhered to the base first and the sentiment piece was mounted over top with foam tape. A cheerful birthday card for any lovely, young (or young at heart) Italian lady.

Well that's all for me today. Thank you for stopping by and I hope to see you tomorrow for Day 4. Make sure to visit Nichole, Heather, Maile, Lisa, Melissa, and Tiffany for more projects and inspiration.

All products are from Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Black Forest Cupcake Card Recipe:
Stamps: Cupcake Collection, Half & Half, Global Greetings: German (available February 15th)
Ink: Pure Poppy, Dark Chocolate; Versamark - Tsukineko
Cardstock: Classic Craft, Dark Chocolate; generic white
Other: Pure Poppy Vintage Button, Half & Half Die, Woodgrain Impression Plate, Cupcake Collection Dies, Clear Embossing Powder; Embroidery Floss - DMC; Liquid Appliqué - Marvy Uchida; Circle Dies - Quickutz; Foam tape - Scotch

Italian Cupcake Birthday Card Recipe:
Stamps: Cupcake Collection, Polka Dot Basics 2, Global Greetings: Italian (available February 15th)
Ink: Spring Moss, Aqua Mist, Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, Fresh Snow; Yellow Pigment - Studio G
Cardstock: Berry Sorbet, Harvest Gold, Sweet Blush; generic white
Other: Spring Moss Saddle Stitched Ribbon, Pinked Edge die; Embroidery floss - DMC; Foam tape - Scotch

Global Greetings - Day 2

Thank you all for your enthusiasm for the Global Greetings series! I'm so glad you're all enjoying the possibilities of these sentiments. Today I'm sharing two projects that incorporate all of the sets (along with a couple of English sentiments) for a little international flair.

The first card today features all of the "hello" sentiments paired with the globe image from Masculine Motifs. I started by stamping the globe in Spring Moss, Spring Rain, and Ocean Tides (stamped off once to soften the color) onto white cardstock. I punched out the globes with a circle punch and stamped the sentiments in Dark Chocolate ink.

Next, I cut a piece of Ocean Tides cardstock and stamped it with the dashed grid background from Background Basics: Retro using watermark ink. That piece was matted with Spring Moss and wrapped with Rustic Jute Button Twine. That layer was mounted to a white base with foam tape and all of the circles were arranged and mounted with more foam tape.

Today's second project is a set of thank you notes that includes one card for each language. I started by cutting a 3 1/2" x 5" base from each Berry Sorbet, Summer Sunrise, Harvest Gold, Simply Chartreuse, Aqua Mist, and Plum Pudding.

I stamped a pattern in watermark ink on each base using the compass image from Father Knows Best and the globe image from Masculine Motifs. Then, I die cut a Photo Finishers Strip for each card and stamped them with a "thank you" sentiment from each set. The strips were adhered to the base and the whole set of colorful thank you notes was finished.

Thank you for stopping by today! Make sure to visit Nichole, Heather, Maile, Lisa, Melissa, and Tiffany for more projects and inspiration. I hope to see you tomorrow!

All products from Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
International Hello Card Recipe:
Stamps: Beyond Basic Borders, Masculine Motifs, Background Basics: Retro, Global Greetings: Dutch, Global Greetings: French, Global Greetings: German, Global Greetings: Italian, Global Greetings: Spanish (Global Greetings sets available on February 15th)
Ink: Spring Moss, Spring Rain, Ocean Tides, Dark Chocolate; Versamark - Tsukineko
Cardstock: Ocean Tides, Spring Moss; generic white
Other: Rustic Jute Button Twine; Foam Tape - Scotch; 1.25" circle punch - EK Success

Global Gratitude Set Recipe:
Stamps: Father Knows Best, Masculine Motifs, Background Basics: Retro, Global Greetings: Dutch, Global Greetings: French, Global Greetings: German, Global Greetings: Italian, Global Greetings: Spanish (Global Greetings sets available on February 15th)
Ink: Smoky Shadow; Versamark - Tsukineko
Cardstock: Berry Sorbet, Summer Sunrise, Harvest Gold, Simply Chartreuse, Aqua Mist, Plum Pudding; generic white
Other: Photo Finisher Dies; 3/4" square punch - EK Success

Global Greetings - Day 1

Hello, Blogland! How are you today? Well, here we are - day one of the Papertrey February Anniversary Countdown. Yay! This month I'm introducing a series of five mini sets of international language sentiments. The series includes French, Spanish, German, Dutch, and Italian and they cover several common occasions: birthday, congratulations, baby, hello, and thank you. I truly hope these sets will fill a need for Papertrey's wonderful global community. Let's get to some projects, shall we?

Today I'm focusing on a couple of baby cards and thank you notes made using the Spanish and Dutch sets. When I started playing around with these sets, I knew I wanted to make a baby card or two. Then I thought of putting together coordinating thank you notes - a set of these would be such a thoughtful gift for new parents!

To start with the Spanish version I stamped the onesie with Enchanted Evening ink onto Spring Rain stock and embellished it with the smallest argyle pattern from A Little Argyle and the tiny ship from Bitty Baby Blessings. I trimmed that out and mounted it to a die cut Fillable Frames #1. That whole piece was adhered to a bit of Enchanted Evening cardstock and set aside.

Next, I cut a piece of Linen Vellum with the Small Scalloped Edge die to make it resemble waves. I stamped the sentiment in Enchanted Evening ink and ran the vellum through the Cuttlebug with the Plaid Picnic Impression Plate. I adhered the vellum to my base with vellum tape and wrapped the card with some knotted Pure Poppy Topnotch Twill before mounting the onesie panel with a bit of foam tape.

For the coordinating thank you note I stamped the larger ship image onto Spring Rain cardstock in Enchanted Evening ink and did a little coloring with my Prismacolor pencils. The sail was stamped a second time onto Linen Vellum and then trimmed out and adhered to the note with vellum tape. It would be super easy to put together a set of these in no time!

For the Dutch cards, I stamped the bunny from Tremendous Treats: Valentine in Dark Chocolate ink and colored her with my pencils. Her little heart-shaped tail was embellished with a pom-pom (tip: trim the back of the pom-pom a smidgen and it will sit flat against your cardstock).

I die cut a decorative edge onto a piece of Lavender Moon Bitty Boxes paper and stamped the sentiment with Dark Chocolate ink. I adhered that to the base (already textured with the Canvas/Linen Impression Plate) and embellished with a Lemon Tart ribbon/white floss bow treatment. The bunny was matted with Dark Chocolate cardstock and mounted over the ribbon with foam tape.

The coordinating thank you note features the bunny and the thank you sentiment from Global Greetings: Dutch. The bunny is highlighted with colored pencils and her tail is embellished with white flocking to give her a little texture. Another super simple design that would allow you to make a batch of these in a snap.

Nichole and Jess Witty are showing more of Global Greetings over on their blogs today, so make sure to check out their posts. For more amazing projects featuring this month's releases make sure to visit Heather, Maile, Lisa, Melissa, and Tiffany.

Thank you for stopping by today! I hope you'll be back tomorrow when I share more of the versatility of these mini sets. Have a great day!

All materials from Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted
Spanish Baby Boy Set Recipe:
Stamps: Bitty Baby Blessings, A Little Argyle, Fillable Frames #1, Global Greetings: Spanish (releasing on February 15th)
Cardstock: Spring Rain, Kraft, Enchanted Evening, Linen Vellum; generic white
Ink: Enchanted Evening, Pure Poppy; Versamark - Tsukineko
Tools: Fillable Frames #1 die, Picnic Plaid Impression Plate, Small Scalloped edge die
Other: Pure Poppy Topnotch Twill; Foam tape - Scotch; colored pencils - Prismacolor

Dutch Baby Girl Set Recipe:
Stamps: Tremendous Treats: Valentine, Global Greetings: Dutch (releasing on February 15th)
Cardstock: Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Lavender Moon Bitty Boxes Patterned Paper; generic white
Ink: Dark Chocolate
Tools: Canvas & Linen Impression Plate, Small Scalloped edge die; Circle Dies - Quickutz; Corner Chomper - We Are Memory Keepers
Other: Lemon Tart Saddle Stitch Ribbon; white pom-pom - Darice; white floss - DMC; colored pencils - Prismacolor; Fun Flock - Stampendous; Foam Tape - Scotch

Papertrey Pride Gear & A Sneak Peek

First and foremost I want to thank all of you that have left such warm, encouraging comments over the last few days. I am so excited about this new creative chapter! I can't tell you all how much your enthusiasm means to me. I'm all full of warm fuzzies up in here.

If you've been following along with the Papertrey Ink anniversary festivities you may have seen a fun announcement this morning. Papertrey has teamed up with Cafe Press to offer logo gear designed by Nichole and a few of the stamp designers. You can see the the PTIgear storefront here.

You may also have noticed the sneak peek of my small collection of mini sets debuting this month. The sets feature commonly used card maker sentiments in a series of international languages. I'll be showing the versatility of these sets from the 10th until release day, so make sure to check back!

Thanks for checking in today! Now I'd better get back to work so I have something to share come countdown time. Bye-bye!

Designing With Papertrey

Greetings, Blogland! May I ask you a question? Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep your trap shut when you have huge news? Like HUGE news? Tis a tricky position, my friends, but today I finally get to share my secret. I have, by some crazy-amazing stroke of luck, been given the opportunity to design a line of stamps for Papertrey Ink. I've been a fan and customer since the beginning, so this is more than I could have ever hoped for (at least out loud).

You can see Nichole's lovely post about this year's stamp designer line-up on her blog. I want to thank Nichole, Julie, and Jane for giving me this opportunity. Their confidence in me means so very much. I also want to welcome and offer congratulations to the other new stamp designers, Erin and Lexi. Hooray, ladies!

Well, as I'm sure you've come to realize, Anniversary week announcements tend to mean contests. Today's contest is a challenge. Each of the stamp designers has put together a little freebie image for y'all to use on your own project (the download is available on Nichole's blog). Simply print the Stamp Designer Freebies Sheet and create a project with one of the images, adding your link to InLinkz list. Easy as pie! The winner will receive a collection of the stamp designers' favorite stamp sets (I've chosen Rhythm & Soul to be included).

The image I've designed for you to use is a little award ribbon and I'm going to share a couple of projects I put together as inspiration.

The first card uses the ribbon image exactly as it's shown on the download. I laser printed the image onto white cardstock and colored with Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits. I die cut the center of the ribbon (it's 3/4" so it will work with a circle punch or die) and mounted it with foam tape. I die cut the Photo Finishers strip and stamped the sentiment in black ink. The strip was adhered directly to an Aqua Mist base that I'd corner rounded and stamped with polka dots. A little more foam tape to mount the ribbon and this card was all set.

On the second card, I wanted to use an image inside the ribbon center, so I just die cut a plain white circle and stamped away. I colored the ribbon with pencils again and embellished the star with a bit of glitter. Next, I die cut Fillable Frames #1 and stamped the frame and sentiment before adding the ribbon with foam tape. I stamped the largest dot burst from Dot Spot onto the base with Versamark and then wrapped Saddle Stitched ribbon and baker's twine around the whole she-bang. I mounted the frame/ribbon piece with foam tape and then stood back and patted myself on the back for a job well done (not really on that last part).

So there it is. Thank you for sharing in my excitement! Make sure to stop by the other stamp designers' blogs and welcome them to (or back to) the team:

Nichole Heady
Beth Silaka
Dawn McVey
Erin Lincoln
Heather Nichols
Lexi Daly
Lisa Johnson
Maile Belles
Melissa Bickford
Tiffany Pastor

Have a great day and I'll see you all again soon!

Absolutely Fabulous Recipe:
Stamps: Digital Freebie, Polka Dot Basics, Everyday Classics - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Aqua Mist - Papertrey Ink; white
Ink: Fresh Snow Pigment - Papertrey Ink; black pigment
Other: Photo Finishers Dies - Papertrey Ink; Corner Chomper - We Are Memory Keepers; foam tape - Scotch; circle die - Quickutz; Prismacolor Pencils; mineral spirits

You Did It Recipe:
Stamps: Digital Freebie, Dot Spot, Simple Little Things, Fillable Frames #1, Text Boxed - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Pure Poppy - Papertrey Ink; white
Ink: Spring Rain Pigment - Papertrey Ink; Versamark - Tsukineko; black pigment
Other: Fillable Frames #1 Die, Spring Rain Saddle Stitched Ribbon - Papertrey Ink; glitter glue; circle die - Quickutz; Cherry baker's twine - Divine Twine; Prismacolor Pencils; mineral spirits

A Li'l Banner

Greetings, Blogland! I hope everyone is having a lovely week. I wanted to share a card that I made today using Nichole Heady's paper banner technique. I love the little paper banners. Seriously. Love them. And I wanted to try my hand at putting one together.

I started by cutting a 5 1/2" square Rustic White base (the closest you'll see me coming to cream cardstock). Then I stamped the leaves and filled in with a few flowers. I die cut a Mat Stack 5 shape from Kraft cardstock and stamped the woodgrain image before adhering it straight to my base. Next I took a strip of Sweet Blush cardstock and stamped one side with the small houndstooth background and stamped the front side with my sentiment. You can see Nichole's "how-to" video on her blog. I finished the card by adhering the banner in place. Super simple and such a fun, new technique to pull me out of my typical rut.

Speaking of ruts...did anyone notice something missing? Foam tape. That's right. Nary a piece of foam tape to be found. Watch out, Chicken Little. The sky just might be falling.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. See you again soon!

Recipe:
Stamps: Beautiful Blooms (sentiment), Turning A New Leaf, Everyday Classics (Anniversary Set), Modern Wood Mats, Background Basics: Houndstooth - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Rustic White, Kraft, Sweet Blush - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Versamark - Tsukineko; Dark Green Pigment, Dark Brown Pigment - Studio G
Tools: Mat Stack 5 die - Papertrey Ink