Papertrey Ink April 2015 Blog Hop

I'm sure I'm not the only one doing a double take at the calendar and wondering where the first third of the year has gone. It is time for the monthly Papertrey Ink Blog Hop and this time around we have this gorgeous photo to inspire us.

There are so many elements to take from this photo and I concentrated on the beautful flowers in the Hobnail milk glass vase first, using the trio of roses from The Sweet Life and Berry Sorbet, Hibiscus Burst and Raspberry Fizz inks. Part of the sentiment is stamped and heat embossed on the striped vellum paper before the die cut from Swoosh finishes it off.

A Wink of Stella adds a little glitter to the roses and the birthday die cut.

I know there is always a lot to see on the Blog Hop and I'll be commenting between soccer games and art festivals today.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Muse #114 + CASology Week 143: Ombre + Simon Says CAS + Poppystamps #7

I order a few things last Sunday from two different online stores and checked this morning for an update on delivery. Imagine my happy surprise when one said the package was delivered yesterday. I ran out to the mailbox to discover that, yes indeed, a few new dies had been sitting out overnight. Instead of continuing to clean in preparation for my mother-in-law arriving tomorrow I started experimenting with my new Poppystamps Princess Butterfly die.

After partially die cutting the butterfly so that the center was still adhered to the panel, it was masked off and ombre inked with Abandoned Coral Distress Ink.

A PTI Wet Paint sentiment is stamped below the butterfly and then this panel was popped up over another white panel and finally adhered to the card base.

This clean & simple card is being entered in a number of challenges;

Muse #114

CASology #143: Ombre

Poppystamps Challenge #7: Spring Fever

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Clean and Simple

This is my first time entering the Poppystamps Challenge and I'm not sure why it took me so long to discover it as I'm a huge fan of their dies.

Back to cleaning and impatiently awaiting my other order, which hasn't even shipped yet :(

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

FMS 182 + CTD 338 + Seize the Birthday

My craft time this weekend was limited to a few minutes here and there between beach clean-ups, soccer and (sadly) a memorial service, but I finally managed to finish this card while Stefan manned the grill for dinner tonight. I picked up both the MFT Smart Phone and MP3 Player dies a little while ago and can't believe they have sat in the NBUS pile for so long.

My plan was to use this card for my daughter's birthday in a couple of weeks but she spied it under construction and has asked if she can use it for a friend.

The sketch from Freshly Made Sketched #182 provided the basis for design of this card (with one a slight alteration) and the color palette comes from Color Throwdown #338.  I am also linking to the current Seize the Birthday where the Toppings is Tall & Skinny. There are definitely some Tall & Skinny elements to this card, but I'm entering it in the Anything Goes category.

Before I go, I just have to implore everyone to please, please wear your seat belts. My dad didn't put the car in gear until everyone was buckled up long before seat belts were regularly used, especially in back seats. I carpool with 15 & 16 year old boys that I have to remind everyday. I know adults that don't wear them regularly and I know a 26 year old young man who lost his life last Saturday night because he wasn't wearing his seatbelt. Sorry, for the sermon, but it has been a difficult week.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Muse #113 + CTS#119 + CQC#287 & The Challenge #30 + CASology #142

When I saw the sketch for CAS(E) this Sketch #119 I knew I would play around with the double partial die cut technique again. It took a few tries to get this combination to work, with the tree partially cut first, then the rectangle frame die cut around it and the exacto knife came out to complete the cuts on the left side of the frame.

An MFT sentiment is stamped and heat embossed directly onto the frame and adhered over an inked portion on the card base.

The card is inspired by Michele's blue & black & white beauty for the Muse Challenge #113,  also fits the color palette from Colour Q #287 and takes the design from CAS(E) This Sketch! #119.

My second card combines a favorite color palette from The Challenge #30 with the CASology Week 42 Cue Card: Sweet.  I haven't pulled out Wplus9's Fresh Cut Florals in a long time and used a few different red and aqua inks to make this bouquet. 

An Avery Elle sentiment and Memory Box watering can die cut finish the card off. My Smoky Shadow gray is darker than the one on the challenge, but the only one I had in my paper pile.

This post has taken me far to long to write because I keep getting distracted by the hockey game, so I'm going to hit publish and concentrate on cheering for the Canucks.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Merry Monday #153: Angels + Virginia's View #14 & MIM #208: Ombre Stamping + Seize the Birthday

I almost walked away from the Merry Monday Christmas Challenge #153: Angels or Cherubs because I don't have any angel stamps, but then I realized I could easily papercraft an angel and this is the result.

I cut a 4"x 3.5" panel of Christmas designer paper and scored every 1/4" to create a fan fold dress. A pearl is slipped on a Maya Road crystal pin and the pin is adhered to the center fold of the dress. The top of the fan is pinched together with a bit of wet glue between each fold and a piece of wire wrapped around the top to hold it together until the adhesive dried. A little glitter washi tape is wrapped around the top part of the dress once it was dry.

The Delaney and Cheviot butterfly dies create the vellum and glitter paper wings and the sentiment is cut from red glitter paper and adhered to vellum banners.

This card is also being entered in Virginia's View Challenge 14: Layers and Dimension.

My second card is based on Laurie Willison's tutorial for Make It Monday #208: Ombre Stamping. I had feathers on my mind after capturing photos of this wild peacock when picking up my daughter from a friend's house. He is usually hiding in the shade but decided to take a walk around the yard while I waited. 

I pulled out the largest feather from PTI's Feather Finery and stamped it with Tropical Teal, Hawaiian Shores and Aqua Mist inks to create the ombre design.

The sentiment was made with a Swoosh stamp and die and a few sequins and raindrops were added before the white panel was popped up on the teal card base. This card is being entered in the Seize the Birthday challenge in the Anything Goes category.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CQC#285 + JUGS#287 + Virginia's View #14 + AAA Cards #36 + Curtain Call: Beginnings

I loved the color palette for the Colour Q Challenge #285 so much that I immediately pulled out my inks closest to the Stampin' Up colors listed so I wouldn't forget to play along this week. Somehow, it still took me all week to come up with a version of this card that I like and I am just squeaking in before the deadline (and did miss the deadline for entering it in the CASology: Spring challenge.)

The masked square on the card base is inked with a stencil and part of the sentiment is stamped before it is all framed with a couple of layers of PTI Slide Frame die cuts.

The "sending" die cut is inked with Mustard Seed Distress Ink and adhered along the frame with the Massa Leaf and Butterfly dies layered in the opposite corner.

ETA The butterfly dies are from Poppystamps. Delaney, the pink detailed die, has been discontinued and Cheviot, the solid die on the bottom, is still available. Although sold separately, Poppystamps has a number of beautiful butterfly dies that go together.

This card it being linked to a few other challenges - you can check out all the details by following these links,

Colour Q Challenge #285

Just Us Girls #287

AAA Cards Game #36

Curtain Call: Beginnings

Virginia's View Challenge #14

I hope everyone celebrating Easter and Passover had a wonderful weekend with family & friends. We follow the Orthodox calendar, so will be celebrating and feasting this coming weekend.

Thank you for stopping by,

Jacquie

MIM #207: Double Partial Die Cutting + Virginia's View #14 + The Challenge #28 & Muse #111

I've been playing around with Laura Bassen's great double partial die cutting technique demonstrated for this week's Make It Monday #207. Check out her tutorial here and put a sharp blade in your exacto knife.

This first card uses the same "HUGS" die that Laura used, along with a Spellbinders label die to create the bigger opening. I inked the card base and selectively stamped part of a sentiment from Thank You Kindly Stamp set.

Before I adhered the dark gray panel to the card base I decided to cut a channel with a Building Block die to nest in a line of buttons. This card is also being linked to Virginia's View Challenge #14: Layers & Dimension and The Challenge #28: Anything Goes in celebration of their one year anniversary.

This second card is inspired by Kristie Goulet's card as the Muse #111.

I played around with another attempt at the double partial die cut technique on this card. This was a bit trickier to pull off until I remembered I had a smaller On the Edge cutting plate which made it easy to partially cut the tree die to one side of the panel and the oval after.

The card base is inked to create a sunset/sunrise (you decide) and the sentiment is stamped and heat embossed before the panel is adhered with foam squares.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie