Thinking Inking

Thank you!

I have a simple thank you card to share with you tonight; it's for someone very special who has been a huge influence in my paper crafting over the past couple of years. I first remember noticing her name in PaperCrafts magazine--not that I was especially looking for names, but that when I was drawn to designs, one name popped up over and over.

More recently, I've drawn inspiration from her blog. I can have a stamp set in hand that I'm still puzzling over what to create with it, and I'll visit her blog and be totally bowled over by the strong designs that I see there. If I had a dollar for every time I've said, "Why didn't I think of that?" after visiting her blog, I'd be a richer woman for sure! Have you guessed it yet?

Now I have a funny story for you; it's a bit out of chronological order, actually coming between paragraphs one and two. But I would have given it away if I'd said this earlier. When this person e-mailed me to say that she was starting a stamp line, and asking if I would be interested in being a part of her design team, I immediately did the Snoopy dance inside. I carefully formulated my answer, saying something to the effect of "I'm not sure that my style is really what you are looking for, but if you think it is, then I'd love to try." Somewhere in the "not sure my style is your style" part. she thought that I was declining, and sent me a kind e-mail back. I read it and realized that she thought I'd said no--yikes!! I certainly didn't mean to say no!  We both figured that out in the next few minutes and had a good laugh over it.  So, have you figured out who the thank you note is for? You're right--it's for Nichole Heady.

Nichole, we love you, girl!

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Card Details
Stamps: Beyond Basic Borders
Cardstock: Spring Moss, Melon Berry, Stampers Select White
Ink: Spring Moss, Melon Berry
Accessories: Melon Berry Twill and buttons
Tools: Spellbinders Plain Square Nestability

So Glad We're Friends

I'm still visiting my family in the South, but I now have an internet connection and thought I'd share a card or two this week.  This was one that I made for a graphic card call. . . and then didn't get submitted when we left for vacation. Oops.

I have a couple of versions, both a vertical and a horizontal one. Which one do you think works better? I couldn't decide.  All ink and paper colors are the same: PaperTrey Spring Rain, Dark Chocolate, and Stamper's Select White cardstock, and Dark Chocolate and Spring Rain ink. I used the Friends 'Til the End stamp set, which I love to color, but chose to leave plain this time.

We're loving the sunshine down here! I have a post for Thursday, and then Benjamin and I fly home Friday. My sweet husband has been plugging away on my studio while I've been gone, and I can't wait to see how it's shaping up! I'm planning to be back into the swing of things on stamping by the beginning of next week. Thanks for visiting!

PaperTrey Ink Release Day

It's that time again--PaperTrey Ink Release Day! I have just a few things left to share with you tonight. First is a masculine birthday card made with Melissa Bickford's Background Basics Retro, combined with one of Heather Nichols' set from last month, Around and About Sentiments.

 The one thing that you can't see very well in the picture is that the Spring Rain strip is stamped tone-on-tone with one of the background stamps.  I used Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Spring Rain, and Vintage Ivory cardstock on this card, as well as a Spellbinders Circle Nestability die and a button from my stash.

Next, how about a black-and white card with Dawn McVey's Damask Designs? This was another set that I can see myself using quite often in conjunction with other sets. I pleated that stitched black grosgrain with glue dots--it's a technique that intrigues me, but I need practice!

Next, I have a card using Heather Nichols' Beyond Basic Borders set and the new Melon Berry ink, ribbon, and buttons. (Hmmmm--I guess I was in a button mood this past week!) 

Finally, I have one more simple notecard using the Handwritten Notes set.  I have to admit that I tried to get out of contributing to this set; I don't have interesting handwriting!  I have two styles--my regular handwriting, and my I'm-teaching-my-third-grader handwriting.  I submitted both kinds, and Nichole chose the I'm-teaching-my-third-grader style. . . Enough said.  I'll enjoy using everybody else's handwriting!

It's going to be sparse posting for a while. Our son and I are visiting my family down South for a couple of weeks, while my husband keeps the home fires burning--literally. (That's how it works when you heat with wood in Upper Michigan!)  I have a few posts ready, but not as many as I had hoped to have before my little stairs incident on Tuesday. Thanks to you who have sent sweet notes about that; my wrist is not so swollen now, though it is in a splint for the time being to keep it stiff.  What this means is that our two weeks in SC might as well be a real vacation instead of one that I haul my work on. Funny how that happens sometimes, isn't it? I'm hoping to come back refreshed and ready to be creative again. Thank you for visiting!

Go check out the CPS Blog Hop!

There is a CPS Blog Hop today, complete with lovely prizes--better go to the CPS blog to start! I'm sorry not to be playing this time, but I'm flying most of the day today. In order, after starting at the CPS blog, you'll want to go to visit:

• Charity Hassel
• Jeanne Streiff
• Kandis Smith
• Keri Sereika
• Laura Williams
• Lea Lawson
• Linda Beeson
• Sherry Wright
• Stacey Kingman
• Tami Mayberry

Have fun!

PaperTrey Bunny Hunt

Welcome to one of the *official* stops on the Papertrey Bunny Hop!

Look closely and you may find
a hidden bunny that's one-of-a-kind.
Perhaps there are more than one or maybe even none!
The challenge is yours, enjoy and have fun!

If you are starting out here, make sure that you stop by Nichole's blog to read about all the details along with the GRAND prize affiliated with this fun contest!

(Click on Photo to Enlarge)

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The Juicy Details
Stamps: Tags for Spring (PTI to be released)
Cardstock: Spring Rain (PTI)
Paper: Bitty Dot Basics (PTI to be released)
Ink: Tea Leaves Versamagic; Berry Sorbet, Summer Sun, Lavender Moon, Raspberry Fizz (PTI)
Accessories: white grosgrain (PTI), foam tape, Copic Marker B21, eclipse tape, Frosted Tin Tie Bag
Tools: Spellbinders Nestability Plain Circle Die; Copic Airbrush System

Love You Forever: CPS102

One of this week's CPS sponsors was a new one to me--SheetLoad ShortCuts. For my CPS 102 card, I played with their frosted card blanks. These were a very substantial frosted, pre-scored base. If you've used thick clear or frosted card bases before, you might have struggled to score them; I know that I have! But since these were pre-scored, they folded beautifully.

To finish my card, I chose some PaperTrey Ink stamps from Heart Prints, as well as some Cosmo Cricket Chemistry papers and PaperTrey Berry Sorbet cardstock and stitched grosgrain.

I had a little stair-accident Tuesday night when I was coming down to work, and I'm consequently typing-challenged, not to mention stamping-challenged; so I think I'll just list the rest of the products that I used below:

Card Base: Frosted Card Blank by ShortCuts (trimmed to 4-1/4" square)
Papers: Chemistry Collection by Cosmo Cricket
Cardstock: Berry Sorbet by PaperTrey Ink
Stamps: Heart Prints by PaperTrey Ink
Ink: Berry Sorbet (PaperTrey Ink), Antique Linen Distress ink (Ranger), Versamark (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Berry Sorbet Stitched grosgrain, Melon Berry and Ivory Vintage Buttons (PaperTrey Ink), red button (Foof-a-La), Filigree detail white embossing powder (PaperTrey Ink)
Tools: Spellbinders Scalloped Nestability Square, Large EK Success heart punch that coordinates with the large PTI heart stamps, sewing machine

Thank you for visiting!

An Apple for a Friend

When we were invited to create an altered trading card, or ATC, as a part of a PaperTrey Ink Anniversary Prize, I chose a few of my favorite sets: Teacher's Apple,  Polka Dot Basics, Fresh Alphabet, and Heart Prints Sentiments. (Bet you didn't know that you could work four sets into one little 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" piece of real estate!)

Now would you like to know what exciting prize Nichole has up her sleeve tonight? Well you'll have to check her blog to see it, but it's fabulous--a little framed, autographed treasure-trove of PaperTrey Memorabilia!

Also, Lauren Meader has a countdown post for a unique PTI release this month. Dawn McVey has had some beautiful pieces up showcasing her soon-to-be-released set, and Heather Nichols will be introducing her new sets on Wednesday. Melissa Bickford has a cool new background set coming out too--so much to see!

Finally, I wanted to share my button storage. Remember the beautiful Prima daisy racks that everybody bought a couple of years ago? I finally emptied mine and sent the flowers to a home where they would be loved. . . so that I could snag the rack and jars for my buttons.  I have four matching racks, so I'll be okay for a while on buttons. Two were my originals, and two came from e-Bay (where the postage actually cost more than the empty racks and jars). I may have to switch to a stackable storage method once I get more colors, but for now, they look lovely in their button condo.

Thanks for visiting!

Friends 'Til the End Card Kit

This month Nichole issued a new kind of PaperTrey Ink challenge, but before I get to that, how about that cool flower? I love it! I was surprised by this flower because it is more realistic, and I'm used to stylized flowers in my PaperTrey sets. This one was SO down my alley--a great flower to color with my Copic markers! (All Copic markers that I used are pictured below. To get the highlight areas, you would use the clear blender to push ink out of the areas that you want to highlight.)

Back to the challenge part: this month PaperTrey is offering a card kit for the first time, so rather than just starting with just a prescribed stamp set, we also started with an exact list of cardstock colors and ribbon to use with the set. Since the colors were luscious, I didn't mind a bit. In fact, I learned long ago as a teacher, that the more carefully I defined an assignment, the better projects my students generally created. My pet theory on this is that when an assignment is wide open, a designer tends to spend far too much time noodling ideas and too little time on the actual execution of the idea. Suffice to say that we had plenty of time to spend on creating the card here. I can't wait to see what the other designers came up with using the same materials!

I also love the abundance of words with this set; I don't know about you, but I remember when I bought my first two stamp sets in 2000. I tried to chose sets that had great words as well as images. And who can't use a friendship set?  This card is for a dear friend of mine in South Carolina. (I don't think she reads my blog, so she won't see this and get embarrassed.) When my dad had heart tests and a triple bypass surgery last month, this friend sat with my mom at the hospital--being a "surrogate daughter" in my place. . .  Benjamin and I will be flying down to S.C. to spend a couple of weeks with my family this month, and this friend will pick us up at the airport and take us home. Don't you think she deserves a special card?

Be sure to see what the rest of the PaperTrey Ink design team came up with, and check out Nichole's post about the Friends 'Til the End card kit too! Thanks for visiting.

Niki Estes, Nichole, Mish Wooderson, Melissa Phillips, Lisa Johnson, Lauren Meader, Heather Nichols, Geny Cassady,  Dawn McVey, Betsy Veldman, and Becky Oehlers

PaperTrey Ink Anniversary Sketch Challenge

Tonight's PaperTrey Ink Challenge was a sketch challenge--definitely closer to my comfort zone than mixing four colors was! Be sure to check out Nichole's post for a fabulous prize that will be awarded to one person who creates a piece based on the sketch and links to her post. (We're talking ribbon HEAVEN here.)

Since my work area is still in transition, I had no idea where to find my silk flowers--hence the need for a hand-made ribbon-flower. To create the simple grosgrain ribbon flower that I used here, you can follow the instructions pictured below.

 

Ribbon is PaperTrey Ink's Fresh Snow Grosgrain, and patterned papers are from PTI's Black and White Basics Collection. Stamp sets are Melissa Bickford's Heartfelt Basics and the Becky Oehlers inspired First Fruits.  I used a Spellbinders Long Rectangle Nestability to cut and emboss the sentiment as well as to draw a black line around it.  That's about it--simple, elegant black and white. 

Have a lovely day!

PaperTrey Ink Anniversary Color Challenge

Tonight's PaperTrey Ink Anniversary Color Challenge was to use Pure Poppy, Ripe Avocado, Ocean Tides, and Summer Sunrise together. While I loved the examples that Nichole showed, I have to admit that mixing more than three colors is out of my comfort zone. But I tried it!

I stamped the stems from Women of Life and added buttons as flowers. Ribbon is Ocean Tides Stitched Grosgrain. Would you like to play along? PaperTrey is offering some fabulous prizes; one of the linked participants in this color challenge will win a year's supply of cardstock. Go stamp, and good luck!

Sweet Peas Thank You

Sweet peas are such a charming, old-fashioned flower! As soon as I saw Karen Lockhart's new Sweet Peas image, I wanted to play with it. I stamped it in Tsukineko's Memento black ink, colored it with the Copic markers shown below, and then cut and embossed the focal image with a Spellbinders Plain Circle Nestability.

I combined the image with some papers from a Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie pad, as well as some PaperTrey Stamper's Select White and Raspberry Fizz cardstock.  I used a Martha Stewart Lattice punch for the one punched edge, and some 1" Arctic White silk ribbon to tie around the card front after that.  The vase is coated in Ranger Glossy Accents to resemble glass.

Now to get this long-overdue thank you note in the mail. . . Have a lovely day!

Heavenly Dove: CPS 101

Good morning! I apologize for the erratic posting lately; we're all still fighting the cold that I brought back from Anaheim and managed to share with my guys.

You're probably aware of the anniversary festivities at the Card Positioning Systems blog. If you haven't been there yet this week, let me mention the word giveaways and a contest in conjunction with CardMaker magazine. . .

This was a simple sketch, but I tend to over-think the simpler ones, making them take longer than more complex sketches. (I'm guessing that I'm not the only one who does this!)  I ended up using the dove from Flourished Christian Symbols  by Our Daily Bread Designs (CPS 101 Sponsor) as my focal image, and choosing a piece of Cosmo Cricket Something Special from the Everafter collection as the background.   All details are listed below. 

Thanks for visiting, and have a lovely day!

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Product Details

Stamps: Flourished Christian Symbols (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Ink: Oasis Green Versamagic (Tsukineko), Antique Linen Distress Ink (Ranger)
Cardstock: Shimmery White (PaperTrey Ink), China (Prism)
Papers: Something Special from Everafter (Cosmo Cricket)
Accessories: Liquid Pearls, buttons (Foof-a-La), Aqua Mist Satin ribbon (PaperTrey Ink)
Tools: Spellbinders Plain Circle Nestability, sanding block