Merry Monday #88 {Use an Animal on your Christmas card!}

When I found this challenge (by way of The Empty Nest Crafter), I just knew that the time had come to try combining two of my favorite card makers' techniques.

I love vintage images, and have always wanted to make a card using this image from a postcard. The little birds are so darling. (The image at the head of this post is a close-up.)

 

Gloria Stengel has the blog "Scraps of Life", and she is a blooming genius when it comes to making the most of vintage images. One of her favorite techniques to help bring vintage images and patterned papers together, is to add the same color border around all the elements. Deep Brown and black do a very good job at this.

The other artist who floats my boat, using vintage images, is Ginny at Polly's Paper Studio. Ginny (maybe she has a pet parrot named Polly?), makes the most FABULOUS embellishments for her creations. At Christmas and Halloween, you can go bonkers looking at all her amazing work.

Seam binding makes a nice soft bow (if you know how to make a pretty one - which I don't) on which to mount all manner of buttons, string, bells, rosettes, or any other item that won't fall off of it. Go back in Ginny's archives if you've never seen her work. You'll never look at bows the same way again!

Managed one last shot before we lost our sunlight, because the other shots didn't show the little bit of glitter to jazz up the bird image.

Supplies:
Papertrey Ink 'Fine Linen' cardstock, Recollections metallic brown cardstock, patterned paper from KaiserCraft's  'Just Believe' small pad and K&Co.'s 'EB Visions of Christmas small pad, Creatology's snowflake buttons, Hemptique's variegated green hemp cord,  Hug Snug's Ivory seam binding, jingle bells, miscellaneous ribbon and lace, and Martha Stewart's crystal tinsel glitter.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit and leaving a comment. See you hopping through the blogosphere, and have the happiest of holidays!

Graphic 45 Easel Calendar Made with "Place in Time"

While visiting the fabulous Absolutely Everything, in Topsfield, Massachusetts, I saw one of the amazing projects that Marcia had made for a class she taught. (Marcia, plus all things Graphic 45, equal bliss.) She used the "Place In Time" 8"X8" paper pad and their 8"X8" easel album.
Marcia encouraged me to make one of my own (even though I had missed her class), and so I looked at hers very carefully, made a few notes, and decided to try it. I must give all the creative credit to her, but Marcia encouraged me to share my version, since it isn't an exact copy of hers, and because she is a generous soul.

 

 

The calendar I designed is not for a particular year, but rather a keepsake calendar for noting birthdays, anniversaries, and a few pertinent details.

 

I love Marcia's design of the centered month's page below the mid-line, with the monthly lined list to the left.

Just a note here. Marcia cut her 8X8 month pages in half and overlapped the bottom half upper edge over the bottom of the already fixed upper half. She did this, because the easel is 8X8, but the spiral binding occupies part of that measurement, so the usable space is about 7 3/4" from top to bottom.

I couldn't bear to part with any of the wonderful page, so I attached mine abutting the top binding, and hanging off the bottom. It just fits, without bending the paper.

I chose to apply my monthly calendar using score tape along three sides, making it a pocket into which the corresponding post card could be inserted. That post card will hold personal notes about my friend's gift preferences.

 The dates I stamped on the calendar are just for the purpose of marking them with a sticker to indicate that those dates are a birthday or anniversary.

I will place a small heart or candle, stamped on a clear label and punched out with a small circle punch, on the appropriate dates.

 

The date and person's name will be written on the list to the left.

My plan for the wonderful images accompanying each month, was to use as many as I could, without covering any of the drop dead gorgeous illustrations adoring each base pages art. (They still take my breath away with each look.)

One trick I used to help me placing the images, was to make sure that none of the tilted images were parallel to any of the others. (If two are at the same angle, they catch the eye, and keep it from roaming over the entire page effortlessly.) Just the smallest tilt in either direction will fix the problem.

My only real dilemma is how I'm going to get all the candle stickers on December 24 and 26. Seven of my friends have been born between Christmas Eve and New Year's! This is proof positive that children are indeed a gift.

My calendar pages are back to back, and this left two sides blank. To fill one of those, I used a calendar set by "Inkadinkadoo", one by "Papertrey Ink", and two border stamps from "The Stamps of Life" to make a background paper on kraft. I also waded up a small mitt full of plastic wrap, tapped it on my white stamp pad, and tamped it over the surface to mottle it a bit. (I should have used cream ink, but I had none.) Papertrey's "Tremendous Tags" dies were used to cut the tags.

Thanks for stopping by to have a look. I would love to hear any comments you may have. Happy crafting.

Papertrey January Blog Hop Challenge, or I'm In A Black Mood ....... and Loving It

January's PTI Blog Hop was so much fun, I just couldn't help but play..and play..and play. One of my favorite things about Papertrey's stamping line, is the incredible color palette of their inks and papers. Nothing makes colors pop better (in my estimation) than their appearance on a black background.

Tole painting was my passion for ten years, and it was that black stage for colors to dance on, that made it so compelling. This card was inspired by those simple, symmetrical folk patterns, that have been gracing objects for about two hundred years. (Betsy Veldman often showcases her color savvy with folk art designs. You can see two of my favorites here and here.)

Photographing black, well, is a trick I've yet to learn, so the clarity of my colors are a bit muted. (If anyone has any pointers by the way, I'm all ears.)

I used Papertrey's black card stock, with some of their other colors for the design, and mounted that on to a PTI white cardstock card. (The card is a bit heavy with all the layers of paper, so it was very nice to have a sturdy base.)  By die cutting all the shapes, it was possible to flip the second die cut over to make the symmetry. Only the two orange flowers were done with a print. A few extra snips of the die cuts, helped me spread the foliage around to get a balanced look. The design has some nice depth without being too bulky for the mail.

Thanks for taking the time to visit and leaving a comment. I treasure them all.

Papertrey January Blog Hop Challenge, or "Where's the 'u'?"

 Back again with more black cards having a Valentine theme, just in time for PTI's January Blog Hop. Papertrey's heavy cardstock, in very saturated black, is an irresistible surface on which to put a plethora of bright or deeply hued colors. I chose to do my three cards with die cuts, because they offered the greatest contrast with the backgrounds.

I made a beeline for Terri's post when I saw the thumbnail of what she had done with PTI's 'Get to the Point' arrow dies You can see her inspiring post here. Once I saw her card, it was imperitive to make my own using all the arrow shapes on one card.

 I used PTI's 'pure poppy' and 'raspberry fizz' cardstock, with a variety of scraps (including paint chips), to fill out my color palette.  The 'u' is from PTI's Block Alphabet Dies. To give it some depth, I embossed half the arrows and mounted the top layer on foam tape. (A black marker on the sides of that tape, helped conceal the bright white foam.)
  
In addition to using the black background and arrow dies, I wanted to make a clever Valentine.
Here is where I fell down. :(
I presented this card to my husband (like a five year old, proudly showing their mother a picture drawn in school). Upon opening the card, he pronounced, "I don't get it. Where's the 'u'?". So much for the emphatic 'u' on the face of my card. (By the way, the 'i' is made from the 'l' in the same font as the 'u', which allowed me to match the size to the 'Heart 2 Heart' die, and use a very small heart for the dot .)

Did you get the message "You, I Love"? Thanks for taking the time to visit.

See you at the blog hop, and have a lovely day.

Stratigies for Glitter (after the fact) and PTI MIM #95

Well, it's time for another Papertrey "Make It Monday", and you can see Heather's video about layering glittered shapes here. I've been wanting to make a purely die cut Hanukkah card. I used the  'Menorah Medley Die Collection' to make the menorah, candles, and lit 'glow halo'. For the flames I used holographic teardrop shaped stickers from Stampendous. The glittered glow was made from Papertrey's 'White Adhesive Sheets' taped front side down, with the sticky backside holding the menorah and glitter together. I finished it off with a die cut 'peace' instead of Shalom. (Do you think we should ask Papertrey to offer us a few Jewish word and symbol dies next year?)

I thought of many ways to make the halo of light around the candles. In the end I settled for two different colors of glitter - a round yellow glitter that I sprinkled on more heavily around the flames and then finished off with a clear glitter to carry the glow all around. It looks pretty good from a distance, but my close-up doesn't seem to capture the same effect. The menorah and 'peace' were cut from some of the 40's wallpaper I mentioned in my last post. The card itself is Papertrey's 'Enchanted Evening' cardstock.

And lastly, I've been told by many people (some I even consider friends,) that I have an excellent list of reasons why my house is covered with glitter, especially at this time of year. Since I've already done the work of generating these excuses, I'm passing them along to you as an early Christmas gift. 

The following list is presented for your pleasure as a PNG, so just  right click to save a copy, or print, for the front of your refrigerator!

Papertrey 5th Anniversary: Day 7 Hearts Challenge 3

This is my third post today. If you have seen all three posts, leave me a comment, and you may be my new best friend! This card is being posted as part of Papertrey's 5th Anniversary celebration - day 7 - hearts. This card does not look like any of my others.

For Christmas every year, there is a small group of us who love to create together, and we choose craft supplies for one another's gifts. We inevitably get given wonderful items that we would not have chosen for ourselves, and this leads to creating pieces outside our comfort zone. (Don't you just love it when you create something totally unexpected? It feels like uncovering a treasure.)

I found a tutorial for this brilliantly designed card format over at 'Graphic 45's beautiful blog. (Scroll down to the second item in the post for this card.) I love the look of a deep black background with vivid colors on top. At first Papertrey's cardstock seemed a bit too heavy for the folding in this card, but after trying lighter weight papers, they just didn't hold up well enough, to my mind.

I used the 7 Gypsies paper pad for the prints (except for the pattern behind "To a friend's house..") and the wonderful bird house frame with two birds behind, that my friend gave me, to make her a thank-you card. The coral heart on the front is die cut from the coasters sold by Papertrey for that purpose. I love the feel and heft of these coasters. I discovered however, when I tried to stamp a 'Heart Prints' image with a chalk ink, that the image completely bled out to a solid. (In the future I will only use dye inks with these if I want a crisp image.)

Judging by my dear friend's reaction to her card, the extra bit of effort to cut the card template, was well worth the work. Besides, it's great fun having all those different sized areas to work with.

Papertrey Supplies: coasters, black card stock, 'Mat Stack #3' stamp, and 'Button Boutique' stamp
Other Supplies: 7gypsies 'avignon' paper pad, Crafty Secrets-Clear Art Stamps 'Home Sweet Home', Spellbinders Nestibilities 'Heart Circles' dies, Nestibilies 'Heart' dies, free bookplate image from Dover Books, scaled down Graphic 45 paper 'Once Upon Springtime', Martha Stewart doily edge punch, 'Liquid Pearls', 'Circle Pop-Up Card Template' from Party Hearty, and miscellaneous stamps and embellishments.

Thank you for taking the time to visit and leave a comment.

Papertrey 5th Anniversary: Day 7 Hearts Challenge 1

Whoopee! Hearts are my favorite motif. Have you noticed all the fabulous shapes in which they come, but they are still totally recognizable as 'hearts'? Papertrey's Day 7 Challenge is to make any project using hearts. You can find their challenge here.

I found, a while back, a wonderfully simple card that I knew I needed to copy (on the right). (I've tried to re-find this card on the web, but I've been unable to locate it again. If you know the source, please let me know so I can give credit. Thanks.) Two wonderful pattern papers from Basic Grey's 'Bittersweet' collection have been begging to be paired up with Papertrey's Kraft paper and 'Heart Prints' stamps and dies.

These are my take on the card above. I used white embossing ink with Ranger's holographic embossing powder for the sentiments on the dark brown paper. I also love the way Papertrey card stock takes the embossing in the plastic embossing folders. Hint: I have found that Cuttlebug Embossing Folders do not completely cover the front of an A2 card, but all my Sizzix  Emboss Folders will cover.

Papertrey supplies: Kraft card stock, 'Heart Prints' stamps and dies.

Valentine for Make It Monday #47

Oh that wonderful time of the year is upon us - Valentine's Day, when hearts reign supreme. There is something wonderful about all the shapes hearts can assume. Hearts are as varied as tea pots and pitchers - two other physiques I adore. They speak of infinite possibilities in design. After that love song to hearts, I have a rather humble card made for Papertrey's Make It Monday #47 challenge. (Wasn't it grand seeing all those Make-It-Monday's in one spot?)

I chose the Make It Monday #45: Coloring Embossed Images with Copics. I did discover two interesting items to put in my bag of tricks. First, I wanted my all hearts to be in a row and evenly spaced. I placed the stamps (image side face down) on my cut card, with approximately even spacing. Then I took a straight bamboo stick and slid it along the paper until all the hearts tops were touching it. (I used a plastic ruler for my first try, but when I pulled it away, the stamps just clung to it, so 'unclingy' straight edges are necessary for this trick.) Tweak the spacing of the hearts; remove your 'level', and place your acrylic block on top. Voila!

 Note: The reason this trick worked so well is because Papertrey cuts their shaped stamps carefully and just at their perimeter.

Sanford Permanent Markers were used to color the white embossed hearts. This worked very well, but I had to be sure that I did not color over an area I had just covered, or a bit of dissolved embossing powder (from the alcohol in the marker?) would deposit itself on the felt tip and ruin the felt tip's performance. (Some of the white emboss did come off the tip if I wiped the point on paper.) The problem was solved by letting the ink dry on the emboss before making another pass.

Papertrey supplies: Heart Prints stamp set  and Raspberry Fizz + Pure Poppy + True Black papers
Other supplies: Personel Stamp Exchange white emboss powder, Creative Beginnings white pigment inkpad 'Just for Embossing' (this is a great coverage white ink), Sanford Sharpie pens, bamboo skewer
Thank you so much for taking the time to visit!

Here Goes

This is my very first post - so welcome. During these first few posts, it seems appropriate to name some of those folks responsible for my entry into blog land.

Nichol Heady at {capture the moment} is one of the driving forces at Papertrey Ink. Her blog is my creative nirvana. If you love to make simple elegant cards using beautiful paper, ink, buttons, dies, and clear stamps, then this is a blog you should not miss. On occasion, I will post my humble creations using their fabulous wares. (By the way, I'm not their shill - just an enthusiastic customer and creative groupie.)

Jumping in with both feet, here is a Thanksgiving invite I made for Make-it-Monday #39 - multi stamp background building at Papertrey's blog. The background images are from Table Service. (One of the things I love about Papertrey's stamps, is their size. The smaller proportions are perfect for building background papers and creating scenes.) The word 'holiday' is from Wonderful Words: Holiday Die Collection. There are more die cuts hiding in the turkey. The body and chest are the two smallest dies from Buttoned Up #2, and the neck and head are the spoon die from Table Service Die Collection. The tail is made of the three different sizes of  Tim Holtz's Paper Rosettes, and those demure feet are punched using Martha Stewart's branch paper punch. (This latter punch may not be available any more.)

Earlier, for Make It Monday #31's background challange, I used stamps from Papertrey's genius stamp set, Guide Lines Two, and the motifs from their special edition stamp set, Iconic Images. The 'Guide Lines' grid stamp was applied to Kraft Cardstock using Versamark's Champagne Watermark ink, making a nearly invisible grid on which to 'build' lace. The motifs from Iconic Images are just the right size to make the lace background using white die ink. The more transparent look of die ink enhances the lace effect when over-stamping images.





I used the 'You're Invited' stamp from  Table Service on the satin ribbon. (The detail of the font on the ribbon is nothing short of miraculous.) The stamps and dies for the cup, pot, spoon, and tea tag are from Tea for Two and Tea for Two: additions. To make the Chintz-ware cup and pot, small prints from K&Co's 'Water Bouquet' paper pad were combined with colored pencil shading and highlighting.

The wonderful 'Table Service' and 'Tea' sets were part of a prize I won for leaving a comment on Papertrey's blog during a release. Up until that moment, I had never won anything in my nearly 60 years. That win alone made up for all the preceding barren years. Be sure to visit them every month and leave a remark. You won't be able to resist commenting when you see the newest offerings and the amazing samples Nichol and the very talented design team make.

Thanks for visiting today.
Marcie