Thinking Inking

Blessings

How about another fall card tonight? I used the leaf vase from the PaperTrey Ink Autumn Abundance set as my focal image, and then used several scraps of various PTI patterned papers as my background, including Tea Leaves, 2008 Bitty Box Basics, and In Bloom.  It's a bit on the wild side for me, but it reminded me of one of my niece's little boho layered dresses.

I colored the image with Copic markers but forgot to take a picture of them before putting them all away--oops.  Basically, I was using these PTI Copic trios: Ripe Avocado trio, Orange Zest trio, Pure Poppy trio, Dark Chocolate trio, and Lemon Tart trio, along with some creamy neutrals, E-40 and E42.

I also used a stamp from the Vintage Labels set, as well as a Spellbinders Labels One die and the bottom part of a snowflakes borderability die. Buttons are Orange Zest Vintage Buttons.

That's about it; I hope you have a lovely day!

Happy Harvest

Although I am not a fan of the color orange, I seem to be fixated on orange lately. I think that paper crafting companies might slip something into the ink to make it addictive--that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it. . . ;-} Tonight I have a fall card to share with you. It's a smaller sized card, 3-7/8" square, sized to fit into the new PTI medium 4" square envelopes. 

I chose an image and sentiment from the Vintage Picnic set, along with PaperTrey's Vintage Buttons, Orange Zest grosgrain, and Natural Rustic Twine. I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it with the Copic markers shown below, most of which are available here. The background is airbrushed with a Copic Y23 marker and airbrush system. 

For papers, I chose three patterns from the Cosmo Cricket Earth Love  Mini Deck, paper piecing the basket and creating a paper foreground for the basket to sit on as well. I also stamped the envelope and colored it to coordinate with the focal image.  I wasn't sure where I could fit my sentiment since a tag on the side would seem too large proportionally for my card, so I tried curving it along the top--the best solution here, I think.

On the whole orange theme, check out this frog that I photographed through our [dirty] basement window today. He jumped down before I could get a second picture. Did you know that frogs have four toes on the front legs and five on the back? Consider it your trivia for the day!

________________

I have a couple of public service announcements for you. 

Next week Ellen Hutson, LLC has several fun participation opportunities and giveaways planned in celebration of World Card Making Day. I've gotten wind of a prize or two, and you won't want to miss it! You can start finding clues and hints on the CLASSroom blog this week, leading up to next week's festivities.

Speaking of World Card Making Day, did you see the Moxie Fab post with the European designers? Oh, MY! There is some seriously lovely work in this post!

Finally, Delilah Hatch from Do-It-Yourself Invitations e-mailed me that she is having a hand made invitations contest, and the grand prize is a $200 gift card to Custompaper.com. Second place is a $75 gift card to Scrapbook.com. While I haven't met Delilah, I know Keri Sereika from Pink Lemonade and Susanna Boyd from PaperCrafts Planet, who are also involved in this venture. Here is a link to the contest page, if you're interested.

Thanks for visiting!

Bee Mine posted on the CLASSroom Blog

A good Sunday morning to you! I have this card posted using the Rummage Bin Sweet Bee stamp set, complete with step-by-step instructions on the CLASSroom blog today. It's a collage-y, stamp-y card for my husband. (He liked it in spite of the bit of embossed lace and tiny flower print--he's well trained!)

Thank you for visiting, and have a lovely weekend.

Make a Wish: September PTI Blog Hop

Hello, all of you PaperTrey Ink September blog hoppers!  I'm not officially in the blog hop; I had company for dinner tonight and didn't get my card finished quite early enough. Still, it was far enough along that I was determined to post it anyway. 

Here was this month's PaperTrey Ink Blog Challenge: "This month your challenge is to reuse, re-purpose or recycle packaging from your Papertrey Package.  Whether it is the clear boxes that the stamps come in, the tissue that is used to wrap each item so carefully, the brown packing paper that keeps your items from shifting, the corrugated cardboard wrapped around the ends of your precious cardstock or even the shipping box itself.  We will be excited to see all the clever ways to incorporate any of these items into a beautifully executed project."

I use a piece of corrugated box from my last PTI shipment, die cut with an SU Top Note die and trimmed slightly. (I hid the seam under the ribbon.) Stamps are Friends 'Til the End and Mega Mixed Messages, and paper is Autumn Abundance.

I colored my flower and leaf image with the Copic markers pictured below. Ribbon is Summer Sunrise, and cardstock is Ripe Avocado and Vintage Cream. I coated the flower center with Ranger Glossy Accents. This was a fun little project, but definitely a challenge.

Thank you for hopping over my way today!

A Little Birdie Told Me. . .

Tonight I have a little bird card to share--not much stamping here!  I love the Relive paper from the Cosmo Cricket Earth Love line, and I was delighted when my PaperTrey Ink Vintage Buttons coordinated with its birds perfectly (New Leaf, Aqua Mist, and Sweet Blush). 

I cut, matted, and stitched around my bird trio, sewing a few lines of random stitches for them to stand on, and then I used background papers from the Earth Love Mini Deck for the card front. Ribbon is PTI's Dark Chocolate Grosgrain. 

The sentiment is from PaperTrey Ink's Birds of a Feather set, stamped in Versamark and embossed using detail white embossing powder. Cardstock is Vintage Ivory and Dark Chocolate.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Merry Little Christmas: CPS 134

This week's CPS 134 sponsor was JustRite Stampers, with a Christmas theme.  I chose the Merry Little Christmas set and 1-5/8" block, paired with papers from the Jolly by Golly Mini Deck by Cosmo Cricket.

Cardstock colors are PaperTrey Ink's Vintage Cream, Ocean Tides, and Sweet Blush. Ink is Colorbox Rouge, Versamagic Pixie Dust, and PTI's Vintage Chamomile Cube.

I used a Sizzix Snowflake die to cut a large snowflake from standard chipboard; because the snowflake was a little larger than I needed, I trimmed the tips off about 1/8". I sprayed the chipboard snowflake with spray adhesive and added ultrafine glitter to the snowflake. To layer the Just Rite dies, I used a couple of Spellbinders Classic Circle dies. Rhinestones and Stickles added more "bling factor."  Ribbon is PaperTrey Sweet Blush Satin.

If you get a chance, we would love to have you play with this week's CPS sketch. Have a great day!

Here for You: Moxie Fab Trendy Household Challenge

Tonight I decided to do a last-minute Moxie Fab World challenge, the trendy household items challenge. The only trendy household items that I could remember having were on my sheet of Cosmo Cricket Early Bird chipboard, so I chose the toaster and toast. The sentiment is from PaperTrey Ink's Vintage Picnic Sentiments set, one of my current favorite sentiment sets. I thought that the toaster was "there for" the toast--hope that makes as much sense to you as it did to me in the middle of the night last night! 

Papers are from the Early Bird Mini Deck; I really enjoy having a smaller scale paper that works well for cards in this line.

Ribbon is PTI's Lemon Tart, and button is a Berry Sorbet Vintage Button tied on withRustic Twine. I used vanilla embossing powder and heat-embossed the sentiment under the toaster.  The scallop is die cut with a Spellbinders Fancy Scallop Border Pierceability, another one of my favorites.

I love the retro feel of the Early Bird colors and images, and I'm glad that Cath tossed out this trendy household challenge. It inspired me to actually USE the pieces of chipboard that I've admired since I first saw them. Thanks for visiting!

World Card Making Day Blog Tour

Welcome to a stop on the World Card Making Day Blog Tour! I have another Christmas card to share tonight, though I promise to get back to autumn soon. World Card Making Day is October 3; what a great excuse reason to make and send cards. If you need some inspiration, twenty five bloggers are participating in today's tour (links posted here). And if you would like to celebrate World Card Making Day too, you can get a WCMD blinkie and add your blog to a tour on October 3 on the very same page, toward the bottom. 

In further celebration, Paper Crafts was gracious enough to share a 25% discount on your shipping cart in the Paper Crafts/CK Online Store, valid from midnight on 9/21/09, MDT through 11:59pm MDT on 10/12/09 in the scrapbooking store.

Here is a 25% off discount code: 

UGSS-ZCXP-NSMJ

On to my card for today: I chose PaperTrey Ink's Believe and 2008 Holiday Tags sets, along with some Scenic Route Rockland patterned paper and some Pure Poppy and Stamper's Select White cardstock. The tree is stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with the following Copic markers: R29, YG91, YG93, YG95,  YG97, and 0. I used some Spica glitter pens in Lipstick, Mint, and Clear on the tree

I then trimmed the tree closely and mounted it with foam tape to the patterned paper background that I had die cut and embossed with a Spellbinders Long Rectangle die. Ribbon and button are both PTI Pure Poppy.  I did a bit of sewing and also added some Ivory Flower Soft as snow under the tree. I used a Tags Trio die to cut and emboss the tag, and some Chamomile Distress ink to gently age all white edges.

So, how about participating in World Card Making Day? Judging from the Mr. Linky list that has begun, it should be fun! Please note: you may have to register in order to get to the blog sign-up page. Be sure to check both the Paper Crafts Connection  and the Moxie Fab World blogs over the next few days for more great festivities and promotions.

Thank you for visiting!

Results from One Thousandth Post Drawing

Are you ready? [Insert drum roll here.]  I just had a chance to run the numbers tonight, and the Random Integer Generator says that Lisa G., Cheryl, and KatlynT need to contact me. I will also try e-mailing you. Thanks!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

210	489	650	

Timestamp: 2009-09-21 05:20:54 UTC

We have number 210: 

Congrats on your 1000 post, love them all. I enjoy visiting your blog almost everyday. My fav products right now are anything from PTI. I was not a stamper until I discovered this company almost from their beginning. This is where I found you and have been a big fan ever since.

Posted by: Lisa G. | September 16, 2009 at 08:34 AM

We have number 489:

It's hard to narrow it down but because of my stack and stacks of cardstock and designer paper I quess it's paper. Textured,
pattered, sparkly or plain just give pretty paper!!!!!

Posted by: Cheryl | September 16, 2009 at 04:15 PM

And finally, we have number 650:

Congratulations on your 1000 posts! Mom and I love looking at your cards. :) Thanks for the chance at the fun giveaway! I love coloring with Mom's Copics!

Posted by: Katlyn T. | September 17, 2009 at 07:52 AM

Joy to the World

Hello from Scrapfest in Minneapolis!  I haven't forgotten about the giveaway below; we've just been working late to get ready for the next day for the last couple of nights. I will work on it when I get home.

I've had fun coloring at at the Our Craft Lounge tables outside Archivers for the past two days and will be heading home after dropping Marianne off at the airport tomorrow. I've really enjoyed meeting several papercrafters whom I knew only online before!

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Today's card uses PaperTrey Ink's Vintage Labels and Christmas Signature sets. I'm loving both of these sets. Ink colors are Spring Rain, Scarlet Jewel, and the Chamomile Vintage Cube. Paper is from last season's Tinkering Ink Christmas paper pad. (I'm sorry, but I can't find it online and don't have it with me at Scrapfest).

I used a Spellbinders Labels 1 die as well as some A Muse Micro Dot Twinkle Stickers to accessorize the stamped scrollwork. This was a pretty quick card to make, and I need those now and then.

Thank you for visiting!

Personalizing Homemade Goodies: JustRite Mega Font Hop

It's day two of the JustRite Mega Font Hop! Twenty-eight bloggers participated yesterday, and the rest today. (If you missed yesterday's list, you can find it here.) To accompany the Font Hop, there is a Mystery Blog Candy Giveaway. Here's how that works: three prizes each day go to three random commenters from three random designer's blogs. (And, no, we don't know whose blog the candy is on either.) You have until Sunday, noon EST, to leave comments to win one of six prize packages. Good luck!

Last year I shared a different version of my favorite pickles--dilled green beans. Before you think "yuck," let me tell you that these things are addictive if you like crisp, snappy, spicy dill pickles. You won't even notice that they are green beans! I think these might be a "Yooper thing" (Upper Peninsula of Michigan), because I've never seen or tasted Dilly Beans anywhere else.  (Thanks to Matthew Molus for posting the recipe!)

This isn't the "stampy" part of the post, but I thought I'd show you a snapshot of my bean rows. Last year I bought pole beans by accident, and my husband said to plant them anyway, and we'd put up a fence for them to climb on if they came up. In short, we loved pole beans--no more bending over to pick green beans, no dirt on them after rain, no slugs. . . I have two 15' rows of beans, planted two weeks apart, and 6' tall. We get a scads of green beans, and what we can't eat fresh or give away, I pickle. The nice thing about this recipe is that since you are processing them for only five minutes submerged in boiling water, you don't mind making only one or two pints with the leftover beans. (By the way, I always double the spices.)  

I chose Times New Roman Upper and Lowercase alphabets, as well as the Preserves Borders and Centers Round 2-3/8" set. As you can see, I edited the center stamp just a bit! It said "salsa," so I carefully trimmed the word from the center banner and left the banner blank for a date. Also, the descenders of my lowercase letters were in the way of my center, so I used a bit of double stick tape to attach the edited center to an acrylic block to make sure that I could center it in my word ring. 

This was the finished focal image, colored with the Copic markers shown below. It you look closely, you might realize that my green beans in front of the red onions are actually red peppers. But with them colored green, I think they will pass for green beans just fine! I used the Times New Roman Uppercase alphabet to add the date to the center of the banner after coloring it, and I raised the top layer of the banner with foam tape for added dimsenion.

I used a Spellbinders Classic Circle die to create my label. The cloth on top of my jar and in the background is from Sweetwater's Authentic collection--I love that cloth, and I've got some sewing projects up my sleeves.

I've heard good things about yesterday's first half of the JustRite Mega Font Hop, and I can't wait to see all of the pieces after I get home from Scrapfest. Keep in mind that there is a 30% off promotion going on for the JustRite font sets, making a great deal even better!

Here is the Friday Blog hop list:

JustRite Blog
Jerri Kay Jimenez
Taylor Van Bruggen
Holly Simoni
Barb Schram
Terre Frye
Michelle Kovack
Kim Moreno
Catherine Doucette
Kellie Fortin
Kimberly Crawford
Kathy Jones
Michelle Giraud
Angela Barkhouse
Heather Pulvirenti
Tami Mayberry
Jennifer Buck
Keri Lee Sereika
Jami Bova
Laura Davis
Stacey Kingman
Bonnie Sharp
Stephanie Severin
Janine Rich
Debbie Seyer
Margie Higuchi
Lauren Bergold
Anja Curvers
AJ Otto

Thanks for visiting!

Enjoy the Ride and an Anniversary Giveaway

Comments are now closed for this post; I will post a winner as soon as I get a chance to count through all of the numbers--hopefully tomorrow or Saturday night. Thanks you for your patience!

Did you think that I'd forgotten about Everyday Button Bits? Not a chance! Tonight I have a little bicycle card to share with you. I've used PaperTrey's 2008 Bitty Box Basics (Spring Rain) and 2008 Bitty Dot Basics (Pure Poppy). I colored the bike seat with a Copic R29 marker, and the metal on the bike with red and silver Spica Glitter pens. Buttons are Spring Rain Vintage buttons, and the stitching creates the trail . I curved the red layer in order to continue the look of the trail both behind and in front of the focal image. This was a fun little card to make!

This week I had a blogging milestone that's been three years coming, my one thousandth post. I am thankful for those of you who come here day after day, and in appreciation, I have a few things to give away. 

First, I have a PaperTrey Ink Vintage Picnic Sentiments set.  This is currently one of my absolute favorite sentiment sets, staying on my desk all of the time. 

Next, I have two Cosmo Cricket Mini Decks, Jolly by Golly and Early Bird. I adore my Cosmo Cricket products, and I'm sure that someone out there will love them as well!

Finally, I have some assorted Copic markers; I love using these!  There are eight Copic Ciao markers here, as well as four Spica glitter pens. 

I will leave this post open until Thursday night, September 17, 10pm CST. To enter, leave a comment telling me what your current favorite paper crafting product is, or what product you would like to see on the market that you haven't found yet. I will choose three winners via the random number generator, and post them Friday if possible, or when I get back from Scrapfest otherwise. The first number gets first choice on which prize, the second gets second pick, and the third gets the remaining prize. Please be kind to your neighbor--one entry per person. Thanks.

I will try to blog from Scrapfest if I get the chance to do so--hope to see you if you're there!