My First Blog Hop

Our challenge was to go through the Design Team gallery or any of the Design Team Members' blogs and find a project that inspires us.  Of course there are so many projects to choose from so I went with one I had bookmarked last October from Dawn McVey's blog.

The photo to the left was my inspiration.  How gorgeous is this card?

As soon as I saw Dawn's card where she heat embossed on Vintage Cream cardstock I knew I wanted to give that a try.  It creates such an elegant look!

I'm not sure I would have thought to use clear EP on Vintage Cream.  I always think of doing it with darker cardstock instead. 

Here's my card:

I stamped an image from Giga Guidelines and one from Damask Designs in Versamark on the cardstock, then heat embossed with clear EP.  I kept the layout of Dawn's card and even added the glitter strip with a piece of 1/4" scor-tape and glitter.  The little tag is a Martha Stewart punch stamped with a tiny greeting from Mixed Messages.




All products Papertrey Ink unless stated otherwise

Stamps:  giga guidelines, damask designs, mixed messages
Paper:  Lavender Moon, Vintage Cream
Ink:  Lavender Moon, versamark (tsukineko)
Accessories:  clear EP, Fiskars All A-fleur border punch, scor-tape, glitter, vintage cream satin ribbon, Martha Stewart tag punch, pop-dots

Compose a Card Week 4

I'm finally getting a chance to play along with Becky Oehlers wonderful Compose a Card challenges.  You can find the challenge (week 4) here.  This is the recipe we were to follow:

Here's what I came up with:

I used my long neglected Inque Boutique Bella Flora stamp set.  I rarely reach for anything but Papertrey Ink stamps, so I forget what other options I have.  The sentiment is from Papertrey's Damask Designs.  Don't you just love the font?

I chose to add a splash of color with some Berry Sorbet satin ribbon.  I also stamped a few individual flowers in Berry Sorbet ink.  I decided to heat emboss the small flourish in the corners of my black card base to dress it up.  I love clear embossing on black! 

I decorated the corner of the envelope to match the card.  It's one of those things I always intend to do, but never actually get done.  It's so much easier to do while you have all your stamps and inks right out in front of you.  I need to remember to take a few extra moments and make the effort.



Stamps:  Bella Flora (inque boutique), Damask Designs (PTI)
Ink:  Memento tuxedo black, berry sorbet & ripe avocado (PTI), versamark
Paper:  true black, ripe avocado, white (PTI)
Accessories:  berry sorbet satin ribbon, PTI vintage button, clear EP, pop dots

Just Because

A quick CAS card using one of my favorite Papertrey sets Giga Guidelines.  I love the larger sentiments in this set.  Orange has never been one of my favorite colors, but I'm trying to use Orange Zest more and I think the color is growing on me.  I stamped the medallion in versamark along the base of the card, then wrapped some yummy Ripe Avocado twill tape ribbon around the center.  I do love PTI's twill tape ribbon!

All PTI products unless stated otherwise

Stamps: Giga Guidelines
Ink:  ripe avocado, orange zest, versmark (tsukineko)
Paper:  orange zest, white
Accessories:  ripe avocado twill tape, Top Note die (SU), pop dots

Origami Bookmark

I decided to use the Papertrey challenge today, which was to make an origami project, to make my girls a simple Valentine's bookmark.  This was so quick and easy.  I followed this tutorial from the Origami Club website.

This uses half a sheet of the 8 x 8 patterned paper.  I chose to use a sheet from Raspberry Fizz Mix.  I stamped the "love" from Mixed Messages and the "you" from First Fruits on the heart then inked the edges with raspberry fizz ink.  I then added the swirls from Remember in black ink. 

I wanted to keep the bookmark flat so they could actually use it in their books.  I resisted the urge to add a cute bow with some yummy PTI ribbon.  Instead I punched the bottom of the bookmark with a scalloped border punch to dress it up a bit.  I love how the point of the heart can hook over the edge of the page to mark your place in the book.





Papertrey Ink Raspberry Fizz mix paper
Stamps:  Mixed Messages, Remember, First Fruits (all PTI)
Ink:  black, raspberry fizz (PTI)
Accessories:  gelly roll pens, Fiskars threading water punch

Happily Ever After

Hurray for another snow day!  It gave me a chance to play along with today's PTI color challenge.  I chose Lisa Johnson's color favorites.

I used the sketch for CPS 153 that is sponsored by Papertrey.  I needed to make a card for a friend's bridal shower this weekend.  Here's what I came up with:

I combined the large flourished vine from With Sympathy with a sentiment from the anniversary set Everyday Classics.  I dressed it up a bit by placing tiny rhinestones in the center of each flower.  I popped the stamped panel up on thick pop dots for added dimension.





All Papertrey Ink unless stated otherwise
Stamps:  With Sympathy, Everyday Classics
Paper:  kraft, true black, vintage cream, spring moss
Ink:  spring moss, black (memento)
Accessories:  black organza ribbon, rhinestones, ribbon tags trio (spellbinders)

Paint By Numbers

The Papertrey celebration continues!  Nichole issued a paint by number sketch challenge on her blog today.  Here was the color combo I had to use since my username is hiinaz:

I almost didn't play along because today was a crazy day and I just couldn't see how to get those colors to work on a card.  Fortunately, she gave us a wonderful sketch to follow so that helped.  I decided to keep it clean and simple.

I used a base of Terracotta Tile and layered it with white.  Then I added the smaller panel of Orange Zest.  I kept the Ripe Avocado and Raspberry Fizz limited to the branch, flower centers and sentiment.  Finish it off with some lovely Terracotta satin ribbon and call it done!  I'm happy with how it turned out.  What do you think?

All products PTI unless noted

Stamps: Floral Fusion (CHA exclusive)
Ink: Orange Zest, Raspberry Fizz, Ripe Avocado

Paper: terracotta tile, white, orange zest
Accessories: terracotta tile satin ribbon, Fiskars apron lace punch, pop dots

Emboss Resist Boat

Thank goodness for a snow day!  I get to stay home with my kiddos all day and figure out the best way to create these blog posts.  Still learning, but having fun.  It's not the best photo because the natural light is seriously lacking today -- the weather outside is either snow or freezing rain.  Come to think of it when was the last time we saw the sun here?

Anyhow, here's a quick card using the emboss resist technique.  It's for the latest challenge on Nichole Heady's blog, as part of today's Papertrey anniversary celebrations.  I used Men of Life from PTI.  First I stamped the sail with pure poppy and then the entire boat with versamark.  I embossed with clear powder and sponged various blue, green and yellow inks over the image.  I like the distressed look of it.


Stamps:  Men of Life (PTI)
Ink: versamagic: aspen mist, oasis gree and ocean depth, buttercup (CTMH), white (memories), pure poppy, versamark
Paper:  ripe avocado, white, pure poppy, men of life pp (PTI)
Accessories: ripe avocado twill tape (PTI), clear EP

Digital Stamping

This card uses a sweet digital image created by Dawn McVey for a Papertrey anniversary challenge. It coordinates perfectly with a 1 3/4" circle punch. I used my circle nesties for the other layers.
I created a background by stamping the large and small stars from last year's free anniversary stamp set from PTI, Everyday Classics. Love the white ink on black cardstock.



Stamps: digi image from PTI (Dawn McVey), Everyday Classics (PTI)
Paper: Stampers Select White, True Black (PTI)
Ink: memories white
Accessories: 1 3/4"circle punch, circle nesties, hibiscus burst twill tape (PTI), pop dots

Inspired to Blog

I've finally decided to spend some time blogging.  I've wavered for years, like so many others.  Is it worth my time, too much effort, who will read it, who cares anyhow?

I've always known that it's good to stretch yourself beyond your comfort zone.  Well here goes.  I've been inspired to take the plunge by Nichole Heady of Papertrey Ink, her amazing design team, and many of the wonderful people on the PTI forum.

I've never considered myself a crafty person, but I started stamping four years ago this month after moving to the cold midwest and needing something to take my mind off of the long winter.  Once I discovered SCS and; consequently, Papertrey Ink my passion for this hobby grew.

Now, I just need to figure out how this blog thing works.  Should be fun!