Wednesday 26 June 2013

Fusion #12

Welcome to the Fusion challenge! I didn't think I would have time to play along this week, but we are experiencing a crazy thunderstorm here right now, complete with hail. I can't sleep 'til it calms down a bit, so I thought, why not put a quick card together. I followed the sketch from Jackie's challenge, and also incorporated the bright color scheme from Lesley's challenge for a simply cheery card.
I used satin ribbon to emulate the three stripes in the sketch.

Thanks for stopping by,
T

Supplies
SU: daffodil delight satin ribbon and melon mambo textured cardstock and ink
PTI: white and limeade ice cardstock
other: EK Success flower punch, Recollections iridescent rhinestones, Hero Arts everyday sayings, green and orange satin ribbon from Michael's

Tuesday 25 June 2013

PTI June Blog Hop

It's June 25th?! Where has June gone? I didn't realize it was so late, and completely forgot it was blog hop time at Papertrey Ink until I saw the post in my e-mail today. 'Tis the season for weddings and I'm really in need of some wedding cards, and this month's gold theme is just perfect for a traditional card with lots of white and a touch of gold, so that's just what I did.

No time tonight for lots of details! Good thing it's a simple card. I will include the "recipe" below.

June-Blog-Hop
Thanks for stopping by,
T

Supplies
PTI: stamper's select white cardstock, signature greetings II
SU: embossing folder
Inkadinkadoo: wedding set
Other: Versamark ink, gold filigree embossing powder, gold ribbon from Michael's, corner chomper

OLW 145

Ardyth is hosting the latest One Layer Wednesday over on her blog, MASKerade. The theme is Spice Girls, so it calls for something involving spices or seasonings, and girly. This may not seem that girly, except that it's a love note, and who else would make one of those besides a girl?! It does have a heart. I checked my stash to see if had anything seasoning related. My options were a salt and pepper shaker stamp, or a chili pepper. My hubby likes things spicy, so I thought I would turn it into a little note for his lunch on his last school day, this Friday. Or, I could leave it lying around so that he could give it to me?

I punched out a circular window for the heart to give it a little more visual weight. Those chili peppers were stealing the show! The heart stamp is from the first set I ever bought from SU many years ago, and I don't recall the name of it and the label is mysteriously missing from the box. The chili pepper and sentiment are also from an unknown set that I bought to make a recipe book for a friend. All I can tell you is it's clear, and I found it at Michael's. I die cut the card base with my PTI Mat Stack 3 Layerz die from their Stampers' Select white cardstock. Everything is stamped in sepia Versafine ink, and coloured with Copics.

Thanks for stopping by,
T

Sunday 23 June 2013

MIM #121

Welcome to Make it Monday! This week Betsy made an absolutely gorgeous card with flowers that were embossed on vellum, and colored with inks. I did a different version with a panel of flowers since these do not have a matching die, and would be a nightmare to fussy cut! I used a mat stack die to make a window to frame them, and embossed them in pewter to emulate a stained glass window.
These poppies are small, so I found it easiest to color the back of the vellum using Copics. The blue turned out a little streaky, but I think it enhances the stained glass look.
This angle shows the clear cardstock layered overtop to make the panel look more glass-like.

Here's a look at the gorgeous card made by Betsy Veldman.
36
I do have sunflowers with matching dies that may work well with this technique. Maybe I will try that out soon?

Thanks for stopping by,
T

Supplies
PTI: white and clear cardstock, mat stack 5 die, wrought iron impression plate
SU: brocade blue cardstock, pleasant poppies, itty bitty banners stamp and die, pewter emboss powder
other: Recollections vellum, Versamark ink, Copic markers

Wednesday 19 June 2013

FFC10

Hi there! It's time for another Festive Friday challenge. This is very last minute, but I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do for a retro theme. I don't have much in the way of Christmas stamps that have a real retro look except for an ornament set I've already used for a couple of previous Festive Friday challenges, that I wasn't feeling inspired to use this time around. I'm all about snowflakes, and haven't used those recently, so decided to play around with that theme.
 
This daylight shot shows more true colors. This shade of blue has a 60's feel to me, possibly because it reminds me of the bathroom fixtures my Aunt used to have in her first house!  I used a new pewter embossing powder for a more antique-y look, but was surprised at how silver it turned out. I had imagined it would be a bit darker. Oh, well. I swiped a bit or grey around the edges to age the raised panel a bit. It's difficult to see in this light, but the white snowflakes are embossed with a cool powder that has silver glitter mixed in with it. A few rhinestones add a bit more sparkle.
 
 
Thanks for stopping by,
T
 
Supplies
PTI: snowflake serenade, winter penguin, soft stone ink
SU: pool party cardstock, pewter emboss powder
other: Versamark ink and marker, Stampendous winter wonderland embossing powder, Recollections iridescent rhinestones, Scotch foam tape

Fusion #11


Hi there! I've had some requests lately for baby cards, so when I looked at the sketch on the Fusion challenge blog, the first thing that came to mind was a baby card in pastels. I was digging around in my stash for something that would work in a square shape and found a stamp shaped die and matching embossing folders that I've never used, one with a cute little baby carriage. They came with my Cuttlebug several years ago, and I'd completely forgotten I even had them. Score 2 points for me! An unused supply has been used, and I have a baby card for the shoe box.

Here's a look at the sketch that started it off:

Thanks for stopping by,
T

Supplies
SU: barely banana, pretty in pink, certainly celery, and bashful blue scraps, bashful blue ink, short and sweet greeting
PTI: white card stock
Cuttlebug: die and embossing folder

Saturday 15 June 2013

Muse #21

Good morning! It's Saturday, so time for another Muse challenge. I've been on a bit of a hiatus the past week. I wasn't feeling all that inspired, and when I did have time for stamping, it was dedicated to one of my Stamp Clubs. I have another this coming week, so tomorrow will be dedicated to working on that one, after the Fathers' Day festvities. We are doing a "grab bag" theme this year with that group, so I have to see what delightful creations I can come up with, using the same supplies Jen handed out to everyone last month. I can't wait 'til Tuesday to see what everyone else came up with! It's always interesting to see how different everyone's style is. Maybe I will post some pics on Wednesday.

On to the topic at hand, this week's Muse. I loved the way Therese's leaves were stamped over the textured background, so I definitely wanted to capture that look. It took a few tries to get the right background and the right color combination so the background would show through the leaves. No problem! The others are nice too, even though they didn't turn out as expected, so they will get turned into finished cards later.

I also followed her layout fairly closely, and used stamped flowers that were similar in style to her DP flowers with a free PTI set called Funky Florals that I had yet to use. They are kind of cool, with a bit of a rustic look. It's hard to see in the first photo that the smaller flower is actually purple, so I had to go out in the sun to get a second pic. It washes out the background, but the flower colors are truer.

Here's a peek at the gorgeous inspiration created by Therese Calvird.

Thanks for stopping by,
T

Supplies
PTI: kraft/rustic cream/spring moss cardstock, spring moss & berry sorbet inks, funky florals set, notched flower dies, kraft buttons
SU: kraft & rich razzleberry inks, summer silhouettes/papillon potpourri/congrats stamps, bitty butterfly punch, linen thread
other: Recollections rhinestones, Stampabilities faded text background

Saturday 8 June 2013

Muse #20


Welcome to Muse day! I usually like to work on something Friday night, but I didn't get home from hubby's last staff party 'til 2:00 am. He's moving to a new school next year, so he was kind of the guest of honour and I could hardly drag him away early. I had an idea in my head for this challenge, so I figured it wouldn't take me long to throw it together this morning. Unfortunately, it's one of those days where the results are not as fantastic as you had imagined they would be! Mostly because I couldn't find any DSP in my stash that was exactly what I was looking for. This one seemed to work the best of what I had on hand. Oh, well. Someone will love it. Isn't that usually the case?

Here's the lovely muse created by Laurie Willison:

Thanks for stopping by,
T

Wednesday 5 June 2013

FFC 09

This Festive Friday challenge is a holiday project in red, green and gold, a color scheme perfectly suited to an evergreen wreath with a big red bow. I'm loving this wreath die, but next time I'll have to think of a quicker way to add berries. Punching out and gluing on those little bits was a little tedious! And, I'm not even sure it was worth the effort since it looked nice without them.
Then again, maybe it is better with the berries?

I added a woodgrain texture to the rustic cream background after embossing the greeting in gold, then matted it with gold cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by,
T

Fusion #9

The Fusion challenge deadline is upon us again. I knew as soon as I saw Lesley's picture that I wanted to use this new raindrop die. Question is, when I ordered it, why didn't it occur to me that it would be a great idea to have an umbrella die or stamp to go with it?! Silly me. I thought about ditching the whole idea and thinking of something else, but wasn't feeling inspired, so opted to try making my own umbrella with a circle die and punch. If the handle looks suspiciously similar to a candy cane, that's because it is!
The raindrops are negative die cuts. Now I have to think of another project to use the leftover blue raindrops! Think I'll get an umbrella stamp/die first.
Thanks for stopping by,
T
Supplies
SU: cool Caribbean and poppy parade and white cardstock, poppy parade ink, teeny tiny wishes, hung up on the holidays, 3/4" circle punch, baker's twine
PTI: white and soft stone cardstock, soft stone ink, cloud die
Other: Holiday Slab V DP, Memory Box die - a little rain, vintage button

Tuesday 4 June 2013

OLW 142

Talk about being late to the party! This One Layer Wednesday challenge hosted by the talented Ardyth started on her birthday, last Wednesday. Tonight is my last chance to link up and join in on the celebration. I believe the birthday "party" for Ardyth hosted by the always entertaining Darnell is still ongoing, so I think I'll link up there as well. 
 
The idea was to create something Ardyth-style, so I CASEd a birthday card she made a while back, adapting it to a one layer format. I also changed it to a square card since she seems big on square lately. I kept the sponged rainbow stripe, and stamped flowers over top. I added a little bling on the flowers rather than a glitter stripe, and it's a done deal. I'm tempted to add something more to it, but Ardyth tends to lean more "clean" than me, so I think I should probably leave it alone. Sorry if it looks a little dark. I had to run out to the front step to get enough light for a photo since it's getting late, and is fairly overcast.
 
Here's a look at the original posted by Ardyth.
Her colors are so bright and crisp! Mine are a little more blended giving it a different look.
 
HBD, Ardyth!
Thanks for stopping by,
T

Supplies
SU: poppy parade, pumpkin pie, daffodil delight, wild wasabi and ballet blue inks, sweet spot flower
PTI: white cardstock, think big favorites #13
Michael's: Recollections rhinestones

Saturday 1 June 2013

Muse 19

Happy Muse day! I had a little trouble getting started on this challenge because I couldn't find any sentiments in my stash that I wanted to use that had the same type of vertical structure as the Muse. There was a Christmas one that would have been nice, but I didn't feel like doing a Christmas card, though I may try something like this with it another day.

I followed the oval frame layout used by Michelle, but flipped it to horizontal to accommodate the greeting.  I thought this card would be pretty quick, but it's harder than you would think to get a nice oval. I have sacrificed an entire sheet of white to this project! Well, on the first one, I screwed up the "hello", and on the second I wasn't happy with the colors, so it really only took two tries to get the frame looking right.

Here is the inspiration created by Michelle Williams:

Thanks for stopping by,
T

Supplies
PTI: white and limeade ice cardstock, limeade ice and berry sorbet ink, wonderful words: hello, mat stack 5, turning a new leaf
SU: daffodil delight, peach parfait and cameo coral inks, summer silhouettes