Papertrey's April 2013 Blog Hop Challenge - Tilted

This month Papertrey's challenge is to use a tilted image in our card design. 

I wanted to do a Valentine with a sewing theme. The look of white on Papertrey's kraft card stock is one of my favorites, and worked perfectly to show off the embossed stitching and lace.

 A no-brainer was to use the Papertrey's fabulous 'Button Boutique' set and button dies. The heart shaped buttons and all the patterns on the buttons are from Papertrey's 'Heart Prints' set, and all buttons are die cut from their paper coasters. (I love the coaster's thickness. It allows a hefty cardboard shape to be cut, and it even plumps up a bit after being crushed by the machine. At $1 for  twenty-five coasters , they're a big bang for the buck.)

'Pure Poppy' ink was an ideal match to accompany my recolored Queen of Hearts image from the internet. (This picture was taken on one of those crummy, dark, rainy days. I make sure to do that, so I can claim how much prettier it is on a sunny day.) ;>

Non-Papertrey items used include:  Darcie's large background lace stamp, Limited Edition's 'Ribbon Lace Strips' (white ric-rac), Hero Art's white embossing powder, and Crafty Secrets 'Antique Trims' stamps (lacy border).

Thanks for visiting!

 

Papertrey's MIM #103 - Die Cuts Within Die Cuts - Take 2

This is take #2 for Papertrey's latest 'Make It Monday'. Betsy Veldman challenged us to make die cuts within die cuts. For my first attempt here, I made a three panel card, and had so much fun,I decided to try it again, but this time I made the folds accordion style.

I again used Papertrey's 'Limitless Layers: 2 1/4" Hearts Dies' with the next size smaller die from 'Heart Prints'. The white embossed 'Valentine' is from Papertrey's holiday sentiment set (with one of my all time favorite fonts) 'Happy Day'.

I finished off the inside using Papertrey's 'Fancy Flourishes' stamp set, and the sentiment from their fabulous bonus set 'Natural Beauties'.  I'm not so sure the inside works, because of the sentiment being so close to the bottom. Do you have any suggestions of a better layout, while still allowing the flourish to show through the die cuts?

Thanks for stopping by and leaving suggestions, and good luck with all the contests for Papertrey's 6th Anniversary.

Papertrey's MIM #103 - Die Cuts Within Die Cuts

Hi folks. If you've landed here, chances are you are participating in Papertrey's 6th Anniversary or their 'Make It Monday #103'. The wonderful Betsy Veldman has a video showing how to make cards with die cuts used inside other die cuts, supposedly a fad at the moment, and what I think is just plain fun. You can find the post and video here.    

I chose to do successive die cuts through the layers of the card as well. My first card (to the right) is a two fold card, with the middle panel forming the back of the card. It has a bit of difficulty standing up when it's closed, so this shot is of it slightly open. (The heart at the head of the post is the closed version.)


The new Limitless Layers: 2 1/4" Hearts Die Collection is a scaled down version of the earlier Heart Prints Die Collection, which makes them ideal for layering together. Each fold of the card gets progressively smaller.

 Here I've opened them up so you can see what they look like. On the very back of the card I put a pink and white gingham heart just because I loved the look of it. I will be hand writing the sentiment "I love you to the bottom of my heart, Valentine".

I used papers from various sources, and of course Papertrey's Limitless Layers: 2 1/4" Hearts Die Collection and Heart Prints Die Collection.

Thanks for visiting and taking the time to leave a comment. I read and savor each one. Good luck, too, if you've entered one of Papertrey's contests.

Papertrey January Blog Hop Challenge, or 'What does that say?'

This is my last entry for this month's PTI Blog Hop (or probably my first, if you are reading this blog from top to bottom. This month PTI has challenged us to design using black backgrounds, and you can find PTI's post here. 

I stepped out of my comfort zone, and discovered that I can't spell in 'Rebus'. By using Tim Holtz's 'Vintage Market' alphabet die, and PTI's 'Strawberry Patch', 'In the Meadow' and 'Wonderful Words: Holiday' dies, I could tell the recipient 'You are very dear to me'. My adorable (but artistically challenged) husband took one look at it, and said "You are strawberry mousse to me?". When I finally stopped laughing, I told him that he was very funny, or very hungry. Not knowing when to stop, I then asked my artsy friend what she thought it said (thinking it would be perfectly obvious to a woman), and again' strawberry mousse' won. What did you think it said the first time you looked? Leave a comment, and I promise not to laugh.

All supplies are Papertrey's except for the alphabet die cuts in white.

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.