Thanks for {owl} you do

This card is for this week's SFYTT sketch as well as Ted's Mother's Day challenge (a card with no flowers or pink/purple). I wanted to use PTI stamps for this card (to better tie into Ted's challenge), but didn't have any that really worked.

The colour restrictions were easy - my mom LOVES green, so I went with an earthtones palette. I used a sheet of DSP from the Welcome Neighbor pad as my inspiration.

I even decorated the envelope to match!
And the inside of the card:

Stamps: I {Heart} Hearts, Picture This, Kind & Caring Thoughts (SU)
Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Summer Sun, Whisper White cardstock, Old Olive, Welcome Neighbor DSP (SU)
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Summer Sun (SU)
Accessories: Scalloped Edge, Small Heart, Heart to Heart punches (SU)

Love flowers

This card is for the first Papertrey Pals challenge, which was to create a project with elements that start with P-A-L-S, or use the word "pals" somewhere on it, etc. I went with cardstock in:

Pretty in Pink
Apricot Appeal
Lovely Lilac
Soft Sky
(oh, and whisper white)
The card is based on this week's Mojo Monday sketch week #124.

I owe you the recipe on this one too, but highlights include Everyday Button Bits (PTI) and scallops (Spellbinders Nesties and SU edge punch.)

Sweet Brown Owl

My second-two last Pink Cat Studio paper piecing project (for now!) This time I printed the Owl on a Branch image onto different papers, cut them out, and assembled. Oh, and I ran the belly and wings through the Cuttlebug, using the Swiss Dots folder. Don't you love his sweet little belly?

This layout is for Mojo Monday Week 121. It came together really quickly!
While putting it together, I decided to use one of the paper pieced leaves on the scalloped flower, which helped balance the card. I also used some of that scrumptious SU Alpine Originals felt ribbon. The stitching in the ribbon is off-white, so I coloured it with a marker (because it clashed with the bright white paper in the card.) Some SU rub-ons finished it off.

Another Clown Owl card!

And here's the next Pink Cat Studio paper piecing project. It's the Hootie Pie clown again!

Each paper piecing image comes with a few options, allowing you to print it on your choice of cardstock, print out the pieces and use them as templates, or print the coloured image directly, which is the quickest option. Don't forget they also come with the files for use with electronic cutters (if you have one.)

This time I went with the quickest option, and simply printed him out on white cardstock, using the colour scheme created by Melissa. Then I just cut out the pieces and glued it all together.

This card is based on the Smiles and Stamps SASSC47 sketch challenge.

Some more texture with Cuttlebug-embossed paper and a wee bit of ribbon. I used more of that happy birthday paper to make a banner, and then added a few dew drops.

And a bit of a preview. Here are the three images I worked with, all printed on white (or confetti white, in the case of the cupcake) cardstock. You'll see the projects with the blue owl and this cupcake tomorrow.

ps. Here's the direct link to the Hootie Pie clown image.

Cupcake Card

Here's another Pink Cat Studio paper piecing project. This time it's a cupcake! This card is based on Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #55.

In this case, I printed the paper piecing image onto several different types of paper, both cardstock and patterned paper. Then I cut it out and pieced it together. I added some Stickles to the heart and scalloped border, and then applied a line of redline tape and covered it in glitter. An SU rub-on punched out with the modern label punch finishes the card.

A few tips about paper piecing:
- When cutting, turn the paper, not the scissors; you'll get smoother edges
- A glue pen is your friend for all those small pieces like the wee flower and band around the cupcake
- Add dimension in logical places (like here, where I popped up the icing)

Don't forget to check out the other examples on Melissa's blog. There's a free butterfly paper piecing image and a CONTEST for a $50 Pink Cat Studio gift certificate!!!

ps. Here's the direct link to the cupcake image.

One sketch, one stamp, two cards

I was inspired by the Mojo Monday sketch #116, and created these two cards, both using Holiday Button Bits (from PTI) and SU paper.

The first uses more "traditional" colours, and PTI buttons for the ornaments. Don't you LOVE that SU Alpine ribbon? I used my SU Mat Pack and paper piercer to create a border/corner element on the top (but it's hard to see in the photo)

Stamps: Holiday Button Bits (PTI)
Paper: Read Red, Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip cardstock, Merry Moments DSP (SU)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU)
Accessories: Alpine ribbon, Mat Pack (SU), paper piercer (Making Memories), corner rounder punch (EK Success), buttons (PTI), Nestabilities (Spellbinders), CB (Provocraft)

The second uses some more modern/funky colours, and patterned paper for the ornaments.

Stamps: Holiday Button Bits (PTI)
Paper: Sahara Sand, Taken with Teal, Ruby Red cardstock, Holiday Lounge DSP (SU)
Ink: Sahara Sand, Ruby Red (SU)
Accessories: 1/2", 3/4", 1" circle punch (SU), corner rounder punch (EK Success), Nestabilities (Spellbinders), CB (Provocraft)

Holiday Wishes

After the big PTI release party tonight, I was inspired to pull out my new Tree Trimming Trio stamp set. I was happy to also use some new SU patterned paper and the yummy Alpine ribbon.

Notice the sentiment? It's part of a larger one. Because the stamps are acrylic, you can bend them before putting them on the stamp block. So I curved the sentiment, inked up the first word, and stamped it (I had to use my Blender Pen to wipe off the ink on the neighbouring letters first). I did the same with the second word. I wish I could say that I measured it to fit perfectly in the wide oval punch, but that was pure chance. I was aiming for a circle punch, but I actually like it better with the oval!

Stamps: Tree Trimming Trio (PTI)
Paper: Read Red, Very Vanilla cardstock, Merry Moments DSP (SU), brown textured cardstock (Bazzil)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU), Pure Poppy, Ripe Avocado (Palette)
Accessories: 1/2" circle punch, Wide Oval punch, Blender Pen, Alpine ribbon (SU), sewing machine (Janome)

ho ho ho!

This card is based on the SASSC40 sketch over at Our Creative Corner.
The ink has a slight shimmer to it, which works well with the iridescent snowflake confetti behind the white snowflake brads (yes, I save everything) and the glittered ribbon.

Stamps: Hung up on the Holidays (SU)
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red (SU), pp (ADT)
Ink: Black Noir (Palette), Thyme, Poppy, Chocolate Brilliance Dew Drops (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Scalloped Edge punch (SU), rub-on(Deja Views), snowflake brads/ribbon/snowflake confetti (unknown)

Old Fashioned Peace

Scrap 'n Stamp's November Sketch Challenge #1.
Stamps: Silhouette Angel (Inkadinkado), Elegant Christmas (The Cat's Pajamas)
Paper: Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand (SU), pp (Memory Block), sage cardstock (unknown)
Ink: Chocolate Brilliance Dew Drops (Tsukineko), Noir Black (Palette)
Accessories: Scribbles and Swirls Sizzlit (Sizzix), (Stickles (Ranger)

Wishing you...

It's my brother's birthday today, so I needed a masculine card. I decided to use of two of my new Papertrey Ink stamp sets, plus Mojo Monday week 112.

It's hard to see, but both the blue and red strips have one of the small "ornament" stamps from Tree Trimming Trio in matching inks.
And the inside of the card - I'm trying to decorate the insides more. It's easy with the scrap bits left over from the front!

Stamps: Birthday Basics, Tree Trimming Trio (PTI)
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Soft Sky, Real Red, River Rock cardstock (SU), pp (American Crafts)
Ink: Soft Sky, Real Red, River Rock (SU), Pure Poppy (PTI), Noir Black (Palette)
Accessories: Photo Corner, 1 1/8" circle, 1 3/8" circle, Designer Label punches, River Rock ribbon(SU), 1 1/2" circle punch (Marvy), 1/8" circle punch (Fiskars), eyelet (Making Memories)

Sing a Joyful Song!

(whoops, hit post too early, here's the final post!)

This card is for Mojo week 110. I'm on a quest to stock up on Christmas cards, so here's the first of (hopefully) a bunch. I like what I did last year, which was to give out all different cards (that I had made over the months before) rather than a bunch of the same. That allowed me to try all sorts of designs and techniques, and then put the cards to good use!

Anyway, here's the card.I used the patterned paper and (green) cardstock that I won from Taylored Expressions last year. I'm not sure of the manufacturer for either. The ink is pearlescent, so has a slight shimmer (hard to see in the photo). Some gems and a wee bow with some twine finishes it off.

Stamps: Elegant Christmas (The Cat's Pajamas)
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla (SU), pp & green carstock (Taylored Expressions)
Ink: Thyme, Poppy, Chocolate Brilliance Dew Drops (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Ticket Corner punch, twine (SU), Ribbon (American Crafts), rhinestones (Kaiser), circle neties (Spellbinders), Cuttlebug (Provocraft)

Baby Shower Card

I had to make a "quick" baby shower card, and decided to use ssnotime #108 and Scrap 'n Stamp's Oct Sketch Challenge #2.

Not too sure about it, I knew which ribbon I wanted to use, so I grabbed the colours from there. Pretend the top ribbon is sewed on straight. Sigh.

Stamps: Cuddles and Tickles, Friendship Blooms (SU)
Paper: Pink Passion, Tempting Turquoise, Kraft cardstock (SU), black textured cardstock (Bazzil)
Ink: Pink Passion (SU), Blue Lagoon Fluid Chalk Ink (ColorBox)
Accessories: Ribbon (Michael's), sewing machine (Janome)

happy B-day

I feel like I've been away from my crafts room for so long that I'm starting anew. I had to sit down and reacquaint myself with everything. Oh, and put away a few things I've bought over the last month!

Speaking of things I've bought...

I decided I'd jump in with a sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You, Kazan's sketch #36. Most of the supplies on this card are from the Explore kit by We R Memory Keepers.

Stamps: none
Paper: Really Rust cardstock (SU), patterned paper (We R Memory Keepers)
Ink: Walnut Stain Distress Ink (Ranger)
Accessories: Spiral punch (SU), 2.5" & 3" circle punches (Marvy), stickers, ribbon (We R Memory Keepers), brads (Karen Foster), wavy-edged scissors (Provocraft)

I'm sure I've mentioned that my crafts room is a haven for my 3.5 year-old daughter. This is a card she made for her best friend's birthday. I helped with the layout and stamping, she took over after that. We added some Stickles as a last step (she wants to use my "sparkles" on everything!)

celebrate U

Still working on the Mojo Monday turns 100 sketches. I skipped ahead to day 7, because I knew right away what I wanted to do.
The smaller squares of DSP were easy to punch out with a 1" square punch, but my 1 1/4" square punch was too big for the Old Olive mats for each of them, so I just used my trimmer to get the right size.

Lots of distressing, including crumpling the main image and smoothing it back out (a bit). I also put my trusty dollar-store crimper to work on the image layers...when's the last time you used YOURS? ;)

Three large eyelets and some twine finish it off.

Stamps: All About U (SU)
Paper: Whisper White, Soft Sky, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Blue Bayou cardstock, Spring BreakDSP (SU)
Ink: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Pumpkin Pie (SU)
Accessories: Hemp twine (SU), 1" punch (EK Success), eyelets (Making Memories), crimper (dollar store)

Flowered Congratulations

Still on the Mojo Monday turns 100 train. This is day 3. I'm also still on the rub-ons kick, so I used a lot on this card.

I layered a bunch of brown and white rub-ons, but obviously the white ones didn't show up on the white paper. I stamped some small flowers in the two shades of blue, then sponged over the entire thing with the lighter blue (Soft Sky). I'm really happy with how it looks! I like the white border around each rub-on. It really defines them well.

Stamps: Eastern Blooms, French Script (SU)
Paper: Whisper White, Soft Sky cardstock, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky textured cardstock, Soft Sky DSP (SU), brown textured cardstock (Bazzil)
Ink: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou (SU)
Accessories: Hidden Garden rub-ons, Scalloped Edge punch, sponge (SU), pearls (Kaiser)

I've also been decorating the inside of my cards lately, here's what I did for this one:
Ask me why I have a mirror image of the script-stamped/scalloped edge white piece cardstock that I used on the front of the card. Go ahead, ask me.

That's right, because I stamped it the wrong way the first time. It was supposed to go on the front of the card, so I needed the scallops to point to the right. But the text was upside-down. Oops!

Ask me what's on the back of the same piece. Yup, you guessed it. More script stamp, STILL upside down! Luckily I was able to use it on the inside.

I'm happy to say that this card is for an upcoming wedding. So I've managed to make a card for an occasion, an entire MONTH before I need it, rather than an hour before!

Happy Trails to You...

...until we meet again.

Ugh. I've been singing that song (and all I really know is that part) for the last 1/2 hour, since I decided on the sentiment for this card:

The card is based off of Mojo Monday 100 (day 2). The sentiment I was originally going to use (from the Cosmo Cricket stamp set) was too long. Then I came up with an even better idea, and pulled out my JustRite 50pt font set. It barely fit, but I'm so glad it did!

I tried something different with the ribbon. I think I've seen something like this elsewhere, but I don't know if it's exactly the same (and of course I can't remember where). I'm sure I'm not the first to do it. Anyway, I used my Crop-o-Dile to punch three holes in a line, close together. Don't mind my scrap paper and ribbon.
Then, from the back of the cardstock, I pulled one end of the ribbon up through the first hole and then down through the last one (by-passing the middle one), leaving some slack.
Then I pulled the two ends (which were both sticking out of the back of the cardstock) up through the middle hole, and to the side.
Finally, adjust as needed and then tighten the whole thing.
And there you have it - a cool ribbon "knot", without a lot of bulk. And I got the ends to sit just how I wanted them! This works well with ribbon that is quite a bit bigger than the hole -- not like I did in my example, but like I did in my card. Then you don't see the holes when you pull it tight - or you can "fluff" it up a bit, to hide them.

The rest of the card is fairly obvious. I was happy to pull out (and use!) some of my Cosmo Cricket papers, the ones that match the stamp set, obviously. Finally, the ribbon just happened to work. It's actually SU Riding Hood Red, but matches very well with SU Ruby Red, and the reddish colour in the paper. Yay!

Stamps: Happy Camper (Cosmo Cricket), Times New Roman 50pt Font (JustRite)
Paper: Very Vanilla, More Mustard, Ruby Red cardstock (SU), Happy Camper DSP (Cosmo Cricket), kraft (unknown)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, More Mustard (SU)
Accessories: Riding Hood Red ribbon, Scalloped Edge punch (SU), corner rounder punch (EK Success), Crop-o-Dile (W R Memory Keepers)

Thanks for all that you do

This card was inspired by Mojo Monday Week 100 (day 1) and Color Throwdown #55.

I don't have the new in colours, so I substituted Summer Sun and Pixie Pink for Crushed Curry and Melon Mambo.
The main image and sentiment are rub-ons (see Carrie, I'm trying to use them!). I made the card slightly larger than normal (it's 6.5 x 4.5) to fit an envelope I already had. I also stamped on the envelope (you can see it under the card) and on the inside of the card (I lined it with white cardstock and a strip of the yellow).

Stamps: Eastern Blooms (SU)
Paper: Whipser White, Kraft, Pixie Pink, Summer Sun cardstock (SU), black cardstock (Bazzil)
Ink: Pixie Pink, Summer Sun (SU)
Accessories: Hidden Garden and Chit Chad rub-ons, Scalloped circle & 1 3/4" circle punch (SU), Scalloped circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Floral Screen embossing folder, CB (Provocraft), 1 1/2" circle punch (Marvy), paper piercer (Making Memories), Design Ruler (Tim Holtz), ribbon (unknown)

Shimmer flowers

Here's another of those images from Jill. This time I used metallic chalks to give it a soft, shimmery look. The card is based off of Kazan's Sketch #32.
I distressed the edges of the white and green layers, and added a big knot to the ribbon.

Stamps: French Script (SU), not sure (from Jill)
Paper: Lavender Lace, Whipser White, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery cardstock (SU)
Ink: Pretty in Pink (SU), not sure (from Jill)
Accessories: Glimmer Chalks (Craf-T), Mega Curved Rectangle nesties (Spellbinders), Birds and Swirls embossing folder, Cuttlebug (Provo Craft), ribbon (unknown)

Glitter, glitter, everywhere.

Another card. This is for ssnotime95 (glitter) and Kazan's Sketch 30.

A very, very quick card. I used the glitter line technique again (shown to me by Leanne). It's simply a line of double-sided tape (use redline for the best results) with glitter. The stars are two-sided stickies as well.

Stamps: So Many Sayings (SU)
Paper: Soft Sky textured cardstock (SU), white (Bazzil), PP (Making Memories)
Ink: Lovely Lilac (SU)
Accessories: sticky stars (Confessions of a Ribbon Addict), glitter ()

Babies are Trouble

This card is for Mojo Monday week 94 and Color Throwdown #50. I had to flip the sketch to work with the layout of the quote.

The quote makes me laugh. It's SO true!

My Real Red ink spot is driving me nuts. It doesn't dry, and then gets my fingers red (not good when you're working with white paper!)

Stamps: Cuddles & Tickles, Riveting (SU)
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise cardstock, Wild Wasabi textured cardstock, East Coast Prep DSP (SU)
Ink: Real Red, Tempting Turquoise (SU)
Accessories: red striped ribbon, Wide Oval Punch (SU), Cuttlebug, Argyle Swirls embossing folder (Provo Craft), mini brads (unknown), paper piercer (Making Memories), vellum quote (Flair Designs)