December 2011 Papertrey Blog Hop!

Hello, Blogland! I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving. We weren't able to travel this year, but we had a wonderful time at home with a small group of friends and a table piled high with delicious food. My fella really knows his way around a pot of black beans (I'm just sayin'). This vegetarian is truly thankful for that skill at this time of year!


Anyhow...I really wanted to participate in this month's Blog Hop, so I whipped up this little ditty recently. In keeping with the inspiration photo I stuck with a fairly traditional red and green color scheme. I stamped the wreath branches with Dark Chocolate ink and then added the "foliage" in Spring Moss and Ripe Avocado. I turned the dotted stamp 180* before stamping the second time to make sure the spacing would look random and more realistic.


The white polka dots were heat embossed on the Pure Poppy strip using ultra fine white embossing powder and then the red was mounted to a strip of white cardstock to give the edges a nice definition. I set that whole bit aside while I stamped my sentiment and ran my card front through the Cuttlebug with an impression plate.

Once the card front and the polka dotted strip were adhered to the card base I cut and knotted a strip of Ripe Avocado Saddle Stitched Ribbon and wrapped that around the entire card, hiding the ends under the wreath panel. I prefer the way that looks over cutting ribbon at the edges of a card, for some reason. Yes, I use more ribbon, but it feels more finished to me. Truly just a preference thing.

The final step was adding the little silk bow to the wreath. I didn't have any 1/4" silk ribbon laying around, so I took white and colored it with a Sharpie. Voila! I haven't jumped on the Copic train, but the handful of Sharpies I own certainly comes in handy sometimes!

Well that's all for me today. I hope you've enjoyed today's card. Have fun hopping!

Recipe:
Cardstock: Spring Moss, Pure Poppy - Papertrey Ink; white
Stamps: Wreath for All Seasons, Stocking Prints, Polka Dot Basics - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Fresh Snow, Spring Moss, Ripe Avocado, Dark Chocolate - Papertrey Ink
Ribbon: Ripe Avocado Saddle Stitched, 1/4" silk - Papertrey Ink
Tools: Linen/Canvas Impression Plate - Papertrey Ink; Nesting Circles Dies - Quickutz
Other: Embossing Powder - Filigree; Foam Adhesive - Scotch

Who's Up for A Cocoa?

Hello, Blogland! It's been awhile since I'd had the time or a project to post, so I wanted to share this card just as soon as I made it. I've been immersed in a Christmas wonderland this week. I have all of my red, green, silver, and white embellishments arranged all pretty-like on a dessert display right in the middle of my workbench. The inspiration seems to be working! I'll do the same with other thematic embellishments when I work on other holiday cards here in the next week or so.


Anyway, enough yammering! On to the card. I pulled out my Candy Cane Christmas stamp set along with a sentiment from Fillable Frames #9 and a couple of my linear background builders to put this little number together. I stamped the patterned paper using Faux Ribbon and Background Basics: Retro. I absolutely love the way it turned out! I've done this with other colors on cards in the past, but this arrangement of colors might be my favorite.

I stamped my mug in Aqua Mist and decked it out with both a peppermint stick and an itty bitty holly sprig. Doesn't it just look so festive?! I mounted the mug to a Half & Half die cut strip with foam adhesive. Then that whole piece was mounted with more foam tape to the base. One little thing I wanted to point out was the ribbon/string treatment. I love bows on cards, but I realize that bulky bows aren't the easiest things to mail. I get around that by using a strip of ribbon and then adding a bow with embroidery floss/twine/jute/etc. over the top. I still get my bow, but it's significantly easier to mail (which is especially important when I'm making cards to be mailed by someone else).

Hope you enjoyed today's card! Have a great weekend!

Recipe:
Cardstock: Kraft - Papertrey Ink; White
Stamps: Faux Ribbon, Background Basics: Retro, Candy Cane Christmas, Fillable Frames #9 - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Pure Poppy, Ripe Avocado, Dark Chocolate, Aqua Mist - Papertrey Ink
Other: Ripe Avocado Saddle Stitched Ribbon, Half & Half Dies, Candy Cane Christmas Dies - Papertrey Ink; Frosted Lace Stickles - Ranger; Red embroidery floss - DMC; Holly Punch - Punch Bunch; Rhinestones - Darice; Foam Tape - Scotch