Thinking Inking

A Happy Hello

Welcome! I have a sunny little card to share today; we're wishing for Spring around here. . . I started with a Papertrey Ink's Polka Dot Parade #2 mini stamp set, pairing it with Carta Bella's True Friends 6" x 6" paper pad. I found this lined notebook pattern in the paper pad and thought that it would be perfect with the flowers on Polka Dot Parade 2. 

I used a sentiment from Heart-2-Heart #12 for the inside of my card. 

To make my spiral edge notebook paper, I used a border die from the Spellbinders™ On The Edge set. I used the heart border from the same set to decorate the left side of the pink patterned paper. I used a banner die template from the Nested Lacey Pennants set for my "sending you a happy" sentiment, stamped in PTI's Ocean Tides ink. I dyed white seam binding with my Copic reinkers and scrunched it while it was wet. Okay, that's it for today's card. Any other details that you might want are probably below. Thanks for visiting!

The Scoop

Patterned paper: Carta Bella True Friends 6" x 6" paper pad

Spellbinders die template sets: On the Edge, Nested Lacey Pendants

Inks: PTI Aqua Mist, Ocean Tides, New Leaf, Harvest Gold; Colorbox Rouge Chalk Ink

Cardstock: Rustic White, Lemon Tart

Accessories: Dyed Seam Binding, (Copic R83, 0), glue, Prisma Glitter, X-Press It Foam Tape

Tools: Spellbinders Grand Calibur, Brother sewing machine

Spring Hills Thank You

Welcome! I had a chance to play a little more with some of the March Papertrey Ink release sets and wanted to share a thank you card with you today. Today's card uses an image from the Spring Hills stamp set as the focal image, and a Background Basics: Wrought Iron image as the background. The sentiment is from PTI's Bountiful Banners stamp set. Cardstock colors are Hawaiian Shores and Stampers Select White, and ink colors are Memento Tuxedo Black, Hawaiian Shores, and New Leaf.

These are the Copic markers that I used to color the image. 

I used a glue pen on the sheep so that I could adhere Prisma glitter to them--it's pretty subtle, so I'm not sure that you can see it in the picture. Ribbon is plain white twill tape that I've had on hand for a long time, and button is a PTI Hawaiian Shores Vintage button. I used a Spellbinders 5" x 7" Matting Basics B to cut and emboss the focal image; I thought its shape framed the focal image and sentiment perfectly, but kept the look clean and simple. That's it for today's card--now if I can just get it in the mail! Thank you for visiting.

Felt Barrettes

Welcome! I finally finished the packaging for  a little felt barrette set that I had stitched while I was in South Carolina a few weeks ago. I *love* Erin's Clever Barrette Cover dies! They make it so simple to cover the little metal hair clips and make them look fabulous. For the wool felt, I used Raspberry Fizz, Aqua Mist, and Limeade Ice.  I used some DMC embroidery floss to stitch the covers onto the metal clips and to add French knots in the flower centers. To cut the flowers, I used the Beautiful Blooms II, #1 dies, and for the leaves, the Lovely Layers dies. 

To stamp the background on the Boutique Accessory Card, I used the Embroidered Blooms stamp set, in Raspberry Fizz, Hawaiian Shores, and Limeade Ice inks. Its topper is stamped  with the Boutique Accessories Mini Stamp set in Hawaiian Shores ink on Rustic White cardstock, then trimmed closely and mounted to a Raspberry Fizz background. (I pulled the clips off of the packaging so that you could see the base.) What do you think? Can you see a little blond girl wearing these? I can! Thanks for visiting today.

Birds & Blooms

Welcome! Today the each of the Papertrey girls is posting a project with this year's anniversary set, Birds & Blooms. This stamp set is a limited edition, not-for-sale set that will be available for purchase with 24 Rewards Points. For more about that, be sure to see both the entire set and the explanation HERE on Nichole's blog.  

For my Birds & Blooms card, I used Vintage Cream, Scarlet Jewel, and Autumn Rose cardstock. Inks are Ocean Tides, Scarlet Jewel, Fine Linen, Autumn Rose, and Autumn Rose stamped off once for a lighter shade. I used several of the Birds & Blooms coordinating dies as well: for cutting the wreath, the individual blossoms, and the  bird. The little word banner is hand-trimmed, and the tag on which everything else rests is Papertrey's Tag Sale #6 die. I used the Herringbone Impression Plate on the Autumn Rose cardstock for subtle texture. I used my Chamomile Distress ink cube to age the edges of the cardstock, and the button is a PTI Cream Vintage button.. In the center of the Tag Sale #6 shape, I used my Copic Airbrush System and a Copic BG23 marker to airbrush a spot of sky behind the wreath. That's it for my card; be sure to see the rest of the projects too, and thanks for visiting today!

Nichole Heady

Ashley Cannon Newell

Betsy Veldman

Cristina Kowalczyk

Danielle Flanders

Dawn McVey

Debbie Olson (here)

Erin Lincoln

Heather Nichols

Jessica Witty

Maile Belles

Melissa Phillips 

Papertrey Ink March 2013 Release in Review

Welcome! I haven't been AWOL on blogging for no reason; I've been playing with some new Papertrey Ink March release sets for the past few days. Today I have several cards to share with you from PTI's March 2013 release,  which will be available tonight at 10pm, EST, at Papertrey Ink. 

I included a complete supply list for each card below. The first two are florals, but just keep scrolling if florals are not your cup of tea. ;-)

Birthday Posies

Stamps: Boutique Borders: Birthday; Rosie Posie; Rosie Posie Step 2; and Background Basics: Twinkle
Cardstock: Melon Berry Raspberry Fizz, Vintage Cream
Ink: Limeade Ice, Simply Chartreuse, and Chamomile Distress Ink Cube (PTI); Rouge and Tangerine Colorbox Chalk Ink (because I was stamping on a colored card stock, and chalk inks cover a bit more on colored card stock)
Tools: Boutique Borders: Birthday die, Rosie Posie dies (all PTI); sewing machine
Accessories: Raspberry Fizz Grosgrain, Melon Berry Vintage Button

Birthday Wish Bouquet

Stamps: Wonderful Words: Birthday, Rosie Posie, Rosie Posie Step Two
Cardstock: Hibiscus Burts, Simply Charteuse, Vintage Cream
Ink: Simply Chartreuse, Limeade ice, Chamomile Distress Ink (all PTI); Rouge and Lipstick Colorbox Chalk Ink
Patterned Paper: Sidewalks 8 x 8" pad by October Afternoon
Tools: Tag Sale #3 die, Rosie Posie dies, Perfect Layers ruler (to get the Hibiscus Burst mat on the Tag Sale #3 die cut), sanding block, sewing machine
Accessories: Cream Vintage Button, seam binding dyed with Copic re-inkers, Prisma Glitter, glue pen, foam tape

Hello, Foxy!

Stamps: Hello Foxy
Cardstock: Terracotta Tile, Vintage Cream
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, PTI Chamomile Distress Cube, PTI Orange Zest
Patterned Paper: Simple Stories Fabulous 6 x 6" pad
Tools: Spiral Notebook Page die, Tiny Tags die, Hello Foxy die, Copic Markers, Copic Airbrush System, glue pan, foam tape, sewing machine
Accessories: Prisma Glitter, Rustic Twine

These are the Copic markers that I used on the Hello Foxy image; I also used some colorless blender on a scrap of terrycloth towel to create the fox's texture.

Find Beauty

Stamps: Spring Hills
Cardstock: Stampers Select White, Hawaiian Shores, Spring Moss, Simply Chartreuse
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Patterned Paper: True Friends 6 x 6" pad by Carta Bella
Tools: sewing machine, sanding block, Liquid Appliqué, foam tape, Copic Markers, Copic Airbrush System
Accessories: Rustic Twine, Aqua Mist Vintage Button

Balloon Wishes

 Stamps: Birthday Style, Background Basics: Birthday Fun
Cardstock: Stampers Select White, Hawaiian Shore
Ink: Hawaiian Shore, Blueberry Sky, Spring Rain, True Black
Tools: Birthday Style dies, foam tape
Accessories: White cotton string

If you would like to see some gorgeous projects with the Papertrey Ink March 2013 release sets, be sure to browse the following blogs! As a reminder, since the sets used in this post are from the March release, they will be available tonight at 10pm, EST, at Papertrey Ink.

Nichole Heady

Ashley Cannon Newell

Betsy Veldman

Cristina Kowalczyk

Danielle Flanders

Dawn McVey

Debbie Olson (here)

Erin Lincoln

Heather Nichols

Jessica Witty

Maile Belles

Melissa Phillips

Sending Many Thanks

Welcome! Benjamin and I are sitting in an airport, waiting to get one the first of our three flights today. His iPod is fully charged, so we're good to go. ;-) I had one last card cued up to share, a simple one made with one Papertrey Ink sets from earlier this year, Everyday Photo Finishers, along with one of the Photo Finish Strips dies. My patterned papers were from the Authentique Lovely 6 x 6 Bundle Collection

I used Pure Poppy and Chamomile Distress inks from PTI, along with a cream PTI Vintage Button. It was super-simple, but it made a sweet thank you note. That's it--we're just about to board! Thank you for visiting today.

 

Happy Birthday Ikat Style

Welcome! Benjamin and I are still in South Carolina for a couple of more days. We've enjoyed visiting with my parents, and we were even able to see a dear friend of mine married yesterday! I have to admit that it will be good to get back home and get a few things done though. Check out the picture below to guess what I've been doing in the evenings. That was about a twelve hour job, even with my Mom pitching in to help.

You guessed it--testing, cleaning and refilling all of my Copic class markers! I'm sure that the Copic Standard and Intermediate Certification participants in Richmond with be happy to have clean, juicy markers. :-)

Today's card is a simple one, using Maile's Papertrey Ink Irresistably Ikat stamp set for the background and Heather's Simple Sentiments for the sentiment. I used color combinations that I don't typically use: Summer Sunrise cardstock on a Natural White card base, and Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, Pure Poppy inks. I added some Chamomile distress ink on the cardstock edges, as well as foam tape to mount the sentiment. That's it--easy peasy. I hope you have a great day--thanks for visiting!

Floral Peace

Welcome! I finished up another card to share, this one made from Papertrey Ink's new Cutting Garden stamp set and its coordinating dies. I had made several clean and simple cards for the February release, so I figured it was about time for a vintage card, right? Other stamp sets that I used here were Background Basics: Sheet Music, and Tiny Tags 2, along with the Tiny Tags die.

I stamped the blooms in Berry Sorbet ink with Pure Poppy rolled around the edges, then misted both the stamp and the cardstock after stamping the images. It got so wet that you couldn't really see the flower, so I used a heat tool to dry the blurry blossom, then stamped one more non-misted blossom on top to redefine the petals. Behind the die-cut blossoms and leaves, I left my really wet, blurry versions, liking the contrast of the background softness with the foreground sharpness.

The heart tag is stamped in Berry Sorbet and Sweet Blush inks, then pinned on with a Tim Holtz mini pin onto Copic-dyed seam binding. I used the French Doily die to cut a doily for the background, and did a bit of stitching to frame my image. That's it for today's card--thanks for visiting!

Papertrey Ink Sketch Challenge

Welcome! Today I have a couple of cards for you, both using the same sketch since I couldn't stop once I started playing with it. :-) You will find five fabulous sketches posted on Nichole's blog today, along with details on how to enter for a $60 PTI gift certificate. Better check it out! I chose Sketch #3 because I loved the multiple angles, and I knew that I had plenty of patterned paper to make pretty layers with! (Still working on that stash. . .)

For the sentiment, I used Tremendous Treats: Valentine, heat embossed in white embossing powder. The paper is Carta Bella's 6" x 6" pad from the True Friends Collection, paired with PTI's Hibiscus Burst and Stampers Select White cardstock. Buttons are all PTI Vintage Buttons as well. This card is for two sweet little sisters!

I liked this sketch so much that I wanted to crank out a masculine birthday card too.I flipped the direction of the angle because I wanted to use the Simple Sentiments Stamp Set set for a clean look. These papers were at the back of my stash (My Mind's Eye Lost and Found Sunshine 6" x 6" pad), and they looked like they would be perfect for a masculine card. I found some brads in my accessory drawer that weren't too frilly to go on a "guy card"--and now I have one ready for the stash! Now I need time to play with some of the other sketches, because they really are great ones. Thanks for visiting today, and be sure to visit Nichole's blog for links to the other DT participants, as well as details on today's giveaway!

Boutique Bargains and Papertrey Ink

Welcome! Today I have a sweet little stamped gift bag to share. More importantly, you may want to check Nichole's Boutique Bargains blog post for information on how to win a $60 gift certificate from Papertrey Ink today!

When we received this month's Papertrey Ink box, there were some fun bits and pieces that I'd never seen at PTI before, one of which was this little bag! I've been experimenting with using my Copic markers on cloth, and this seemed like a perfect place to try a Copic/stamping project. I stamped the focal image with the Stitches and Swirls stamp set, using Graphite Black Brilliance ink, heat-set with an iron. By the way, Tsukineko's Versacraft ink is perfect for stamping on cloth, but mine is packed away somewhere. . .

These are the Copic markers that I used to color the cloth bag. I have a couple of hints for you for coloring on a cloth surface. First, use an appropriate ink and heat set it. (Brilliance or Versacraft for me). Second, do NOT saturate the cloth like you would cardstock. The ink will wick right past the stamped line if you get too much ink on cloth. Use a light touch and flick the ink on. I like to keep my iron out so that if I see the ink starting to spread, I can quickly iron the cloth to dry the alcohol right up and stop the wicking action. Third, I often start in the center of the shape and work my way outward, waiting to see how quickly the ink will wick so that I don't get too much ink on there. Practice on a scrap of cloth first, and you'll get the hang of it pretty quickly. Using the colorless blender on cloth is NOT usually a good idea, especially if you are trying to fix a mistake. Edited to add: Be sure to put a piece of cardstock INSIDE The bag to absorb extra ink as you work, or you will have ink bleeding through the back side of the bag. I hope these hints help you!

The sentiment that I used here is from Year of Flowers: Sweet Peas, and that little bee is from Friendship Jar Summer Fillers. For the tag I used a Tremendous Tags die, along with a sentiment from Mega Mixed Messages. I used some Prisma glitter in the flower centers as well as on the bee wings.

Several of the other girls have posted a Boutique Bargains project as well, so be sure to check Nichole's blog for a link list and details on more of the anniversary celebration giveaways. Thanks for visiting!