July Blog Hop

Oh my goodness!  I am still recovering from my wonderful weekend with all the Papertrey Ink celebrities and fans, so I almost forgot that it was Blog Hop day!  Okay, I DID forget that it was Blog Hop day, but, thankfully, Nicole's blog reminded me.  So I had to squeeze in a little crafty time today.  Not a bad thing. 

If you don't know about the blog hop, you can learn about it on Nicole Heady's blog.   There, you can see the beautiful inspiration picture.  I'm afraid to post that picture here because I'm afraid someone will think that it's a picture of my house.  I assure you that my house looks NOTHING like that.  I wish it did, but it just doesn't.

So on to my card...

It was fun to pull out my new Gracious Vases set as well as the Half & Half set.  I used papers I have printed from Dawn's Color Couture downloads (these are volumes 7, 8, and 9).   A little thing I tried that I thought was brilliant -- I have not {yet} invested in the Half & Half dies that go with the stamp set, so I used one of the stamps and stamped it on the back of my paper.  I then used my scissors (remember those??  Those little sharp things we can hold in our hands to cut with?) to cut out the shape.  It was pretty easy to cut, and you can't see my lines because they're on the back of the patterned paper.  Okay, "brilliant" may not be the right word, but it worked and I haven't spent the money on those dies {yet}.

Here's what I used (all PTI unless otherwise indicated):
Paper:  Stamper's Select White, Ocean Tides, Patterned Papers (Color Couture downloads) Vol. 7 Starbursts, Vol. 8 Lines, Vol. 9 Scrollwork) printed on Whisper White (SU)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine), Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, Dark Chocolate, Ocean Tides, Enchanted Evening, Lucky Limeade (SU)
Stamps:  Gracious Vases, Half & Half
Other:  Butterfly punch (Martha Stewart), Linen and Canvas impression plate, rhinestones, chalk (SU)

Thanks so much for looking!

Digi images and bits and pieces

 I read enough blogs to know that I'm not the only one with leftover bits and pieces on my desk.  I just imagine that my piles are bigger than everyone else's because I'm so good at clutter!  I had a little fun yesterday playing with some of those leftover bits and am quite pleased at the results.  This first card started with the leftover strip of paper I had printed from Dawn McVey's Color Couture download (Vol. 5 Dots).  Really, how could I throw away a piece of paper so cute?!  I added a strip from a used piece of Raspberry Fizz Bitty Dots paper and a strip of my new decorative tape -- you know, the stuff they sell to go with the Smash books that are all the rage.  (No, I don't have a Smash book YET, but I certainly did buy that tape!)  I used a Mat Stack #4 die cut that I had cut from some scrap paper another day and the Happy Birthday stamp that I had printed a bunch of from My Digital Studio a while ago when trying to get the punch size right. (I've since figured it out, but now I have lots of little pre-printed happy birthday stamps from my mistakes!)  The flourish and the felt flower were freshly cut for this card, but they were so worth it!  I really love the way this one turned out -- so happy!

 This one (and the one below) started with the label left over from a 2nd or 3rd printing of the wonderful (free!) tag download from Papertrey's anniversary celebration this year.  I do think these are darling, but every time I want one, I have to print the whole sheet, so I have quite a few leftover bits on my desk just begging for their chance to shine.  This one is the one Nicole Heady, herself, designed.  I just mounted it on a Limitless Layers die cut, added some coordinating paper, and added a little flourish.  So easy, and, I think, very cute!

 

The tag on this one was designed by Maile Belles.  Like the other tag, it fit very nicely onto the Limitless Layers die.  I added some paper from my Thrift Shop pack, and had a pretty cute card!

Supplies for HB card:
Paper: Kraft (PTI), Stamper's Select White (PTI), black from my stash, Raspberry Fizz from Bitty Dots (PTI), Digi printed from Color Couture download Vol. 5 Dots (PTI)
Ink: (digi stamp!)
Stamps: Digi from Punch Bunch in My Digital Studio (SU)
Other:  Mat Stack #4 die (PTI), Scallop square punch (SU), Scribbles Swirls sizzlet die (Sizzix), Beautiful Blooms II #3 medium die, white/cream button (PTI), Black Dots Smash Tape

Supplies for Happy Birthday card:
Paper:  Kraft (PTI), Spring Rain from Bitty Box Basics (PTI), Green Boutique (PTI), Hawaiian Shores (PTI)
Ink:  (another digi! -- no ink on the fingers)
Stamps:  Digi image from PTI's anniversay celebration (by Nicole Heady)
Other:  Limitless Layers die (PTI), Scribbles Swirls sizzlet die (Sizzix)

Supplies for Celebrate You card:
Paper:  Rustic Cream (PTI), scrap piece of red from my scrap pile, Thrift Shop (October Afternoon)
Ink:  STILL no ink on my fingers
Stamps:  another fabulous digi image from PTI's anniversary celebration, this one from Maile Belles
Other:  sticker "gems" in center of pinwheels

More Fruit Fusion

I really love these little Fruit Fusion sets.  I didn't buy all of them, but I'm having fun with the ones I have.  Here is a card I made with Fruit Fusion:  Pear. 

And here's one using Fruit Fusion:  Apple.  Yes, I know, it's supposed to be an apple, not a peach, but I just had to try it.  :)   Not too bad, I hope.   I think that when I try it again (and I WILL try it again), I'll try using the stem from the pear to see if it will look less like an apple that way!   I must say that the inspiration for this card came from a card by Lesley Langdon that was on page 133 of Stamp It! Cards.   I'm getting lots of inspiration from that magazine right now!

Supplies for "You Make Me Smile" card:
Paper:  Kraft (PTI), Thrift Shop (October Afternoon), white cardstock (Georgia Pacific),
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Ripe Avocado (PTI), Yellow Ochre (Colorbox) -- this one's drying up, so I ended up with kind of a rustic look, Tea Dye Duo (PTI)
Stamps:  Fruit Fusion:  Pear (PTI), Signature Greetings (PTI)
Other:  Top Note die (SU), Harvest Gold ribbon (PTI), Harvest Gold (I think!) button (PTI), embroidery floss

Supplies for "You are a Peach"
Paper:  Kraft (PTI), Library Ledger (PTI)
Ink:  Peach Parfait (SU), Ripe Avocado (PTI), Versafine Onyx Black
Stamps:  Signature Greetings (PTI), Fruit Fusion:  Apple
Other:  Certainly Celery ribbon (SU), pinking shears

A little Fruit Fusion

I must confess:  I'm absolutely smitten with this watermelon slice.  The stamps, the patterns, the die -- I just love it!  Here is my favorite (so far) attempt with this little set.  I just think it is perfect when stamped with Poppy Parade and Pear Pizazz ink (SU).  No special techniques to trip me up on this card.  It's just plain and simple.

Supplies:
Paper:  Thrift Shop (October Afternoon), Kraft (PTI), Library Ledger (PTI), Stamper's Select White (PTI)
Ink:  Poppy Parade (SU), Pear Pizazz (SU), Versafine Onyx Black, Tea Dye Duo -- Chai (PTI)
Stamps:  Fruit Fusion: Melon (PTI)
Other:  Certainly Celery ribbon (SU), Fruit Fusion: Melon die (PTI), pinking shears

While I was playing with Botanical Silhouettes...

I was playing with my new Botanical Silhouettes set (oh, I just love that font combination, don't you?), I decided I really wanted to try a little emboss resist -- a technique that NEVER works for me the way I envision that it should.   This is the best I've done yet.  I didn't have any paint brushes (then -- you can bet that I do now!) and had to use Q-tips for my painting, but I think it came out okay.  Way different than most cards that I do.  Because my photography is so bad, I took a closer picture so you can see the embossed image a little better.




Supplies
Paper:  Rustic Cream (PTI), Concord Crush (SU)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark, Concord Crush (SU), Pear Pizazz (SU), Summer Sunrise (PTI), Berry Sorbet (PTI)
Stamps:  Botanical Silhouettes (PTI anniversary set)
Other:  clear embossing powder

Playing a little catch-up

It's been forever-and-a-day since I've added anything to my blog.  I think it's feeling neglected.  My craft desk, however, has actually been feeling less neglected (but very messy) the last few days, so I think I should start sharing some of my fun! 
I've managed to miss posting for quite a few of Papertrey's Make it Monday challenges, but I really liked several of them and am playing a little catch-up on trying out the techniques.  The challenge a couple weeks ago was "multi-color stamping with ink refills."   The way-too-talented Betsy Veldman demonstrated how to use fun foam and re-inkers to create a custom multi-colored stamp pad. (You can see that here.)  That was great, except I don't have many re-inkers.  I looked around for a way that I could do this with my supplies and found that I could use my Stampin' Up markers for the same effect.   First, I stamped the image (from my new Botanical Silhouettes anniversary set -- so pretty!) onto the fun foam.  Then, I used the markers to color the flowers on the foam.  Finally, I used the foam as my ink pad to produce multi-colored flowers in one stamp.  I like the way these came out and am eager to try again with other stamps!  
Supplies:
Paper:  Fine Linen, Hawaiian Shores, Rustic Cream (PTI)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Melon Mambo (SU), Bermuda Bay (SU), Dusty Durango (SU), Ripe Avocado (PTI)
Stamps:  Botanical Silhouettes (PTI anniversary set)
Other:  Mat Stack #4 die (PTI), Linen and Canvas impression plate (PTI)