September Papertrey Ink Countdown - Day 5

Well, here we are, friends. We've reached the final day in my better-late-than-never September Papertrey Ink countdown. Thank you for sticking with me these past few days. I have two more cards to share with you, so let's get to it!

Today's first card uses one of the Spanish sentiments from Global Greetings: Christmas.

I started by stamping the plaid background on a piece of Limeade Ice cardstock, adhered that to a white card base, and rounded the bottom corners. Next, I die cut and stamped the stocking with Limeade Ice and Aqua Mist inks. I set that aside while I die cut a frame using the Mat Stack #4 Layerz die and the Fillable Frames #7 die. I stamped my Spanish sentiment in the opening of the frame using New Leaf ink. I also stamped the pine bough from Love Lives Here: Holiday with New Leaf ink and trimmed it out by hand.

I wrapped my card base with New Leaf saddle stitched ribbon and Teal baker's twine before adhering my sentiment panel with foam tape. Next, I created a loop for hanging my stocking using crochet thread and adhered the ends to the back of my stocking. The loop was hung over one of the branches in the pine bough before I adhered the pine bough to the sentiment panel with foam tape. The loop is locked in by the tape so the stocking is free to swing back and forth. It's so fun and playful!

Today's second card is a bit more sophisticated. I paired an Italian sentiment from the Global Greetings: Christmas set with Lovely Layers to create a festive poinsettia card.

I began by stamping an Ocean Tides card front with polka dots in Fresh Snow ink. That was adhered to a white card base and set aside. Next, I die cut one of the Half & Half strips and stamped it very lightly with Aqua Mist ink (I wanted the effect to be very subtle - it's there, but you really have to look to see it). I left an open space in which I stamped my sentiment. Then, I die cut two of the Lovely Layers shapes from Pure Poppy stock and one of the smaller shapes from Pinefeather stock.

I stamped the leaf vein image onto the Pure Poppy shapes using Scarlet Jewel ink. I layered those two pieces and curled the petals to give them a more realistic look. In the center I adhered three small circles of gold cardstock that I found in my scrap box (note: this isn't the Gold Shimmer from the Papertrey store - that stock is a bit yellower than this stock). I then stamped the Pinefeather shape with its coordinating image from the stamp set. I adhered the Half & Half strip to my card front and layered on the Pinefeather "leaves." I added the poinsettia bloom atop the leaves with foam tape and embellished the gold cardstock circles with Glossy Accents.

Well, that's all for me for this month's countdown. I'll be back with another project again soon. Take care and I'll see you around!

Recipes:
Spanish Stocking Card
Stamps: Global Greetings: Christmas, Autumn Pattern Pieces, Stocking Prints, Love Lives Here: Holiday - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Limeade Ice, Hawaiian Shores - Papertrey Ink; white
Ink: Aqua Mist, New Leaf, Limeade Ice - Papertrey Ink
Other: Mat Stack #4 Layerz die, Fillable Frames #7 die, Stocking Prints die, New Leaf saddle stitched ribbon - Papertrey Ink; Teal baker's twine - Divine Twine; white crochet thread; Foam Tape - Scotch; Corner Chomper - We R Memory Keepers

Italian Poinsettia Card
Stamps: Global Greetings: Christmas, Lovely Layers, Polka Dot Basics, Half & Half - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Ocean Tides, Pure Poppy, Pinefeather - Papertrey Ink; white; gold shimmer
Ink: Pinefeather, Aqua Mist, Scarlet Jewel, Fresh Snow - Papertrey Ink
Other: Lovely Layers Die Collection, Half & Half Die Collection - Papertrey Ink; Foam Tape - Scotch; Glossy Accents - Ranger

September Papertrey Ink Countdown - Day 4

Good morning, everyone, and welcome back to the fourth day of my projects featuring the Double Bow Die and Global Greetings: Christmas. I have a couple of additional cards to share with you today, so let's get to it!

Today's first card is a larger scale than I usually use (it's an A7 size), but I thought the larger canvas was better suited to showing off the Double Bow die.

The card itself is actually quite simple, but the bow gives it wonderful drama and texture. It's definitely a hand delivery number though, that's for sure! I began by die cutting and assembling my bow from Autumn Rose patterned paper. Then I stamped multiple floral and leaf images from Larger Than Life onto a Rustic White card base using a combination of Spring Moss, Simply Chartreuse, and Ripe Avocado inks.

I added the sentiment in Dark Chocolate and a few small flowers in Sweet Blush. I embellished the centers of the flowers with pearlized paint and mounted the bow with a bit of foam tape. It may seem silly to use foam tape here (does that bow really need more height?!), but it actually serves to make the bow lay flatter than it would if I were using Scor Tape. The loops in the bow aren't going to get any flatter, but by raising the center up just a tiny smidgen (it's only 1/16" thick) it keeps the center from looking like it's so deeply inset. It also takes a little pressure off the point of adhesion, so you don't have to worry about your bow popping off your card if you didn't press quite hard enough.

My second card is (strangely) on the small side. I created a 4Bar card by pairing Global Greetings: Christmas with Holiday Cheer and the In The Meadow dies.

I started by stamping an Aqua Mist panel with a snowy pattern using Fresh Snow ink and my sentiment using Pure Poppy ink (it looks brownish here, but I assure you it's closer in real life). I then adhered that to a white card base. Next, I die cut my snow drifts using the In The Meadow dies and trimmed them to fit my card front.

I stamped the tree trunks on the shallower drift and sponged the top edges of the dies before giving them a little texture with the Woodgrain impression plate. I used a glue pen to draw an adhesive line along the top edge of the dies and embellished them with glitter. Those were then added to the front of my card. Next, I die cut and stamped my trees. I mounted them to the front of the card with foam tape and added Glossy Accents to each of the bulbs for a realistic shine.

Thank you for joining me today! I'll be back tomorrow with one more day of countdown projects. I hope to see you then!

Recipes:
Gratitude Bouquet
Stamps: Larger Than Life, Think Big Favorites #16 - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Rustic White, Autumn Rose Patterned Paper - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Spring Moss, Simply Chartreuse, Ripe Avocado, Dark Chocolate, Sweet Blush - Papertrey Ink
Other: Double Bow Die - Papertrey Ink; Foam Tape - Scotch; Pearlized Paint - Scribbles

German Trees
Stamps: Global Greetings: Christmas, Holiday Cheer, Winter Snowglobe (snowflakes) - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Aqua Mist - Papertrey Ink; white
Ink: Pure Poppy, New Leaf, Aqua Mist - Papertrey Ink
Other: Woodgrain Impression Plate, Holiday Cheer Die Collection, In The Meadow Die Collection - Papertrey Ink; Chunky Crystal Glitter - Martha Stewart Crafts; Foam Tape - Scotch; Glossy Accents - Ranger; Glue Pen - Zig

September Papertrey Ink Countdown - Day 3

Hello, crafty friends, and welcome back to my third day of countdown posts featuring my new stamp set, Global Greetings: Christmas. Here's the fun part about my next few posts...I was late to the party this month, so everything is now available! So that means you can head over to Papertrey's website and pop anything you see that you absolutely cannot live without right into your shopping cart. Yay! Alrighty, now on to the projects.

Today's first card uses all of the single-line sentiments from Global Greetings: Christmas in a list of sorts.

I started by stamping my English sentiment in Pure Poppy onto a panel of white cardstock. Next I lined up my foreign sentiments onto one block and stamped them repeatedly on either side of the English sentiment in Spring Moss ink. Next, I adhered a strip of pinked Pure Poppy cardstock to my sentiment strip and mounted everything to a white card base that had been covered with a piece of Spring Moss patterned paper.

Then, I stamped the holly leaves from Dawn's new Boutique Borders set in Ripe Avocado ink and hand trimmed them. I adhered the holly leaves next to the English sentiment and embellished with a few tiny red rhinestones for berries.

My second card features the single-line French sentiment from the set.

I started by stamping a Ripe Avocado card front with my sentiment and heat embossed it using white detail powder. Then, I stamped the polka dotted background using watermark ink before adhering that panel to a white card base. Next, I stamped a row of gingerbread people onto a white panel of cardstock using a combination of Dark Chocolate, Classic Kraft, and Ripe Avocado inks. I added a few of the hearts from Gingerbread Lane in Autumn Rose and Scarlet Jewel inks and embellished the panel with a Loop De Loop cut from Autumn Rose cardstock.

The image panel was mounted to the card front with foam tape and the bottom corners were rounded. To finish the card, I used tiny dots of clear dimensional glaze to give the gingerbread people's buttons a little texture.

That's all for me today. Thank you so much for popping by for a peek. I'll be back tomorrow with a couple more projects showcasing my new products for this month. See you then!

Recipes:
Multi-Lingual Christmas Card
Stamps: Global Greetings: Christmas, Boutique Borders: Christmas, Instant Photo: Holidays - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Pure Poppy, Spring Moss Patterned Paper - Papertrey Ink; white
Ink: Pure Poppy, Spring Moss, Ripe Avocado - Papertrey Ink
Other: Pinking Shears Border Die - Papertrey Ink; Foam Tape - Scotch; Red 3mm Rhinestones - Mark Richards

French Gingerbread Card
Stamps: Global Greetings: Christmas, Polka Dot Basics, Gingerbread Lane - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Ripe Avocado, Autumn Rose - Papertrey Ink; white
Ink: Dark Chocolate, Classic Kraft, Ripe Avocado, Autumn Rose, Scarlet Jewel - Papertrey Ink; VersaMark - Tsukineko
Other: Loop De Loop Border Die - Papertrey Ink; White Detail Embossing Powder - Filigree; Foam Tape - Scotch; Glossy Accents - Ranger; Corner Chomper - We R Memory Keepers

September Papertrey Ink Countdown - Day 2

Hello again, crafty friends, and welcome back to my September Papertrey Ink countdown posts! I have a couple of additional cards for you today featuring the Global Greetings: Christmas mini stamp set. Let's get to it, shall we?

Today's first card features a trio of ornaments as well as one of the Italian sentiments from the set.

I stated by stamping the harlequin background block three times in Limeade Ice ink onto a white cardstock panel. I die cut one an ornament from the center block and mounted the panel to a white card base. Next, I stamped the sentiment in the negative space left from die cutting my ornament. Then, I die cut and stamped two more ornaments from the Vintage Ornaments set.

I used the drippy icicle image with a glue pad and added glitter overtop my Aqua Mist images. I fashioned hooks from some earring wire I had lying around and adhered those to the back of my ornaments before mounting them to the card front with foam tape. I finished the card with a few small bows made from 1/4" silk ribbon that had been colored with a Copic.

My second card today uses one of the German sentiments from Global Greetings: Christmas.

I started by stamping the large mistletoe image in both Spring Moss and Ripe Avocado inks (though it's difficult to see the Spring Moss in the photos). I then stamped the sentiment in Dark Chocolate and the berries in Fresh Snow.

I matted that panel with a piece of white cardstock that I had cut with the Edgers #1 die and mounted it to a Pure Poppy card front that had been textured with the Rustic Burlap Impression Plate. I used Crystal Stickles on each of the berries to give it a little sparkle and embellished the mistletoe sprig with a ribbon bow once they had dried.

That's all for me today folks. Thank you for visiting with me today! I have a few more projects up my sleeve for tomorrow, so I hope you'll join me then. In the meantime, make sure to check in with Nichole, Ashley, Betsy, Cristina, Danielle, Dawn, Erin, Heather, Laura, Maile, and Melissa to see even more of this month's new releases. See you soon!

Recipes:
Ornament Trio Card
Stamps: Global Greetings: Christmas (available September 15th), Vintage Ornaments, Bitty Background Blocks II - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: white
Ink: Limeade Ice, Aqua Mist, Ripe Avocado - Papertrey Ink; Essential Glue Pad - Tsukineko
Other: Vintage Ornaments Die Collection, 1/4" silk ribbon - Papertrey Ink; Marker - Copic; Foam Tape - Scotch; Earring wire

Mistletoe Card
Stamps: Global Greetings: Christmas (available September 15th), Mistletoe & Holly - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Ripe Avocado, Classic Kraft - Papertrey Ink; white
Ink: Spring Moss, Ripe Avocado, Fresh Snow, Dark Chocolate - Papertrey Ink
Other: Rustic Burlap Impression Plate, Edgers #1 Die - Papertrey Ink; Crystal Stickles - Ranger; Red Ribbon - May Arts; Foam Tape - Scotch

Introducing Global Greetings: Christmas and the Double Bow Die

Good morning, friends, and welcome to my first post for the September Papertrey Ink countdown! Thank you so much for your patience with me and my absence this month. Sean and I truly enjoyed celebrating our anniversary in Alaska, but I'm excited to share some projects with you now that I'm home. You've probably already seen some wonderful examples by the design team this week, so I won't bore you with too many of the details. Let's get on to the projects!

Let's start today with a little gift ensemble. I started by creating my bow. Nichole Heady put together a really terrific video tutorial HERE in case you need the step-by-step instructions.

I decided to use fabric on this one. I began by using Heat 'N Bond to fuse together two pieces of fabric so there wouldn't be a "wrong" side. Then I die cut and assembled with a hot glue gun like normal (I did use the metal shim to aid in cutting and it really seemed to help get through both layers of fabric). I stitched a large New Leaf button to the front circle for a little extra embellishment before gluing the final tab into place.

I finished the bow by gluing a small clothespin to the back so the bow could easily clip to a bag or ribbon on a box.

To make the coordinating gift tag I started with a Tag Sale #4 die that I had stamped with the Striped Sweater background set. Next, I stamped a white circle of cardstock with the wreath from Rustic Branches using New Leaf, Limeade Ice, and Pure Poppy inks. I embellished the center of the wreath with one of the French sentiments from the new Global Greetings: Christmas set. I mounted my white circle to the New Leaf tag with foam tape and embellished my berries with some dimensional glaze.

My final project of the day is a Christmas card featuring one of the Dutch sentiments from Global Greetings: Christmas.

I started by stamping the stitched background from Background Basics Retro in white onto an Aqua Mist panel. That was then adhered to a white card base. Next, I stamped my sentiment onto a scalloped piece of Linen Vellum and attached that to my card front with vellum tape. Then I die cut and stamped my focal image from Winter Snowglobe.

I colored my Santa using Copics and then covered the finshed image with a piece of Clear Cardstock that I had xyroned and die cut. The result is a very realistic snowglobe! I wrapped my card base with a piece of knotted twill and mounted my snowglobe with a bit of foam tape. Rounded corners finished the whole thing off.

Well, thank you for joining me today! I'll be sharing projects over the next several days so I hope you'll be back to join me. In the meantime make sure to check in with Nichole, Ashley, Betsy, Cristina, Danielle, Dawn, Erin, Heather, Laura, Maile, Melissa, Lexi and Melissa to see sneak peeks of this month's new releases. See you soon!

Recipes:
Gift Package Ensemble
Stamps: Global Greetings: Christmas (available September 15th), Rustic Branches, Background Basics: Striped Sweater - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: New Leaf, Pure Poppy - Papertrey Ink; white
Ink: New Leaf, Pure Poppy, Limeade Ice, True Black - Papertrey Ink; VersaMark - Tsukineko
Other: Double Bow Die (available September 15th), Tag Sale #4 Die, New Leaf Button, Front & Center #1 Die - Papertrey Ink; Circle Die - Quickutz; White crochet thread - DMC; Foam Tape - Scotch; Polka dotted flannel; Heat 'N Bond; Mini Clothespin

Prettige Kerstdagen Santa Card
Stamps: Global Greetings: Christmas (available September 15th), Winter Snowglobe, Background Basics: Retro - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Aqua Mist, Linen Vellum, Clear Cardstock - Papertrey Ink; white
Ink: Aqua Mist, Pure Poppy, Fresh Snow, Ripe Avocado - Papertrey Ink; Tuxedo Black - Memento
Other: Small Scalloped Border Die, Winter Snow Globe Die Collection, Pure Poppy Twill - Papertrey Ink; Circle die - Quickutz; Markers - Copic; Vellum Tape, Foam Tape - Scotch; Corner Chomper - We R Memory Keepers; Xyron

September Sneak Peek

Hello, friends! I just wanted to pop in to share a sneak peek of a set I have coming out this month. It's a Global Greetings addition that focuses on Christmas!

I also wanted to check in to let you know that my countdown posts are going to be a few days behind. I'm actually in Alaska right now and haven't had the chance to get my hands on my new stamps (in fact, this is the first day I've even had reliable wifi in over a week). I promise to hit the ground running just as soon as I get home. See you then!

September Color Play

Good morning and welcome to Papertrey Ink's September Color Play! This month we're using a photo found on The Retro Mama blog where the very talented Kim Kruzich sews, writes patterns, and shares her crafty adventures. This totally adorable little apple pin cushion is our inspiration for this month.

I loved the color scheme and I thought it might make for an interesting card, especially since the background of her photo said "Fine Linen" to me and that isn't a color I use much. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to challenge myself a bit and pull that color out of hiding. I also thought that the palette was super versatile and would lend itself to several different design styles. So a challenge and the potential for versatility...sounds like a winner to me!

I started by pulling out a panel of Fine Linen stock and stamped it with one of the patterns from Autumn Pattern Pieces in Fine Linen and Ripe Avocado inks. That was then textured with the Linen & Canvas Impression Plate and adhered to a Rustic White card base. Next, I die cut the coffee mugs from Warm Happiness and Warm Happiness Too from Rustic White cardstock and stamped them with the coordinating images in Dark Chocolate ink. The tall mug was then stamped with Ripe Avocado and embellished with spots of Aqua Mist while the shorter mug was stamped with Pure Poppy.

I stamped my sentiment onto Rustic White stock using Dark Chocolate and Ripe Avocado inks and then added a grounding shadow in Aqua Mist to give my mugs an anchor. I wanted to reinforce the affection theme, so I stamped the heart-shaped steam image onto my focal panel using more Aqua Mist. That panel was then matted with a bit of Dark Chocolate cardstock and mounted to my card front with a bit of foam tape. I adhered my mugs (tall one flat, short one with foam tape) and the card was complete. The great thing about this card is that you could easily switch around the colors to give you a totally different feel. I went with a little more subdued take, but I can absolutely see making another card in the future with a brighter and bolder direction.

Thank you for joining me today. I hope you'll try out the color scheme for yourself and share your project over on the Papertrey Ink Challenge forum! Also, make sure to check in with Betsy, Dawn, Heather, Maile, and Melissa as they revisit the Halloween Sweets & Treats collection. You won't want to miss it! See you next time!

Recipe:
Stamps: Warm Happiness, Warm Happiness Too, Autumn Pattern Pieces, Sunflower Bouquet - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Fine Linen, Dark Chocolate, Rustic White - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Ripe Avocado, Fine Linen, Dark Chocolate, Pure Poppy, Aqua Mist - Papertrey Ink
Other: Warm Happiness Die, Linen & Canvas Impression Plate - Papertrey Ink; foam tape - Scotch