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 '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.

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's MIM #94 - Detail Glitter Technique

Just had to play along with Papertrey this MIM. A little glitter goes a long way, and you can see just how far here. The new Spellbinder's Poinsettia Die is sooo beautiful and I love the Papertrey dies for the vases and some of the greenery.

That gorgeous "Merry Christmas to You" sentiment, is an altered version to fit. (That font is too perfect not to have used it.)

I need to post before the opportunity passes by. Please leave a comment and tell me if you like the white embossed background on the second card, better than the very plain one of the first. I couldn't make up my mind.

Thanks so much for visiting, and I hope to see you all again soon.

Supplies from Papertrey: Winterberry Die, Mega Gracious Vases Die, Believe Stamp Set, Think Big Favorites #20 Mini Stamp Set, Cream Cardstock,  Pure Poppy Cardstock, Mega Mehndi Medallion Stamp Set

Others: gold glitter, old gilded wallpaper from the 1940's, Spellbinder's Poinsettia Die, Quickie Glue Pen, Hero Arts White Embossing Powder, Brilliance Pearlescent Brown, Gold Holographic Embossing Powder, misc scraps of paper

Papertrey Ink October 2012 Blog Hop Challenge

Over at Papertrey, they are having their October Blog Hop with Christmas on their mind. 

They have all sorts of beautiful non-traditional color palettes to try out. I started with the color combo above,  but my ink pad of melon berry is really more a 'dirty pig' pink. (From what I've read, this color mismatch is one that in being addressed with the manufacturer.)

Here begins my adventure. I decided to replace the 'Melon Berry' with 'Autumn Rose'. Looked OK when I stamped a sample with the others using the  'Happy Harlequin' stamps, so I stamped in the background. NOT!!! Oh, my heavens. The 'Harvest Gold' looked like it had been through the washer too many times! What to do? I over stamped those diamonds with 'Ocean Tides' and the background seemed OK again, not

great, but passable. Now I had had a blue green and a blue pink with a yellow green and a yellow pink. I'm still not sure this color combo works, but it has grown on me - sort of like lichen. This for me, is part of Papertrey's magic - they make it all look so simple.

If I covered up my harlequin background, maybe I'd get away with my colors. I found a layout here at  Sept 2011 - Card Maps, that would help me, and the inspired poinsettia idea was Lizzie's. (If you haven't been to Becky Fleck's Page Maps, you are missing a major treat and resource!)

One last note - actually a question. I am using a laptop these days and I'm relatively new to it. I try to color correct my photos, but I can never tell if I get it right. Do you have any tips about how to standardize color adjustments with a screen that can be at any angle, and in any light, at the time I'm working? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for visiting today, and have a happy and creative Halloween.

Supplies are all Papertrey unless noted:
PAPER: vintage cream card stock, Paper Source's gold card stock
STAMPS & DIES: Happy Harlequin stamps and die,

INKS: spring moss, berry sorbet, harvest gold, autumn rose, ocean tides, VersaMark's 'Dazzle Watermark - Champagne'

Halloween Banner with a Vintage Touch

 One of my first love of blogs came from the visual feast of vintage images over at Karen's The Graphics Fairy. She is one of the most generous souls I've run across in blogdom, giving her readers one or two new vintage images a day......every day! It's never been easy for me to use vintage images in my crafts, but those images are invariably among my favorites - Halloween in particular. I have downloaded so many of her great images, that I finally screwed up my courage, and made a banner. (As it happens, only one of the images I used, a pretty witch, came from Karen's collection. Just search her blog for Halloween images though, and I bet you will have an instant need for all things Halloween.)

First, since the theme was an alphabet, of sorts, I went through my images looking for pics that could go with each letter, and then found adjectives that could alliterate with each. The letters I used were a no-brainer - the glorious alphabet was from Dover. (Sign up for Dover's great free images here.) The font is beautiful and is rendered in fall colors.

Next came the background patterned paper. Recollection Papers at Michaels provided a set of fall hued backgrounds of the same pattern, helping me create a cohesive look throughout when combined with the fonts. At this stage I started becoming overwhelmed with managing the elements. Then, inspiration hit!

I had used Microsoft's 'Publisher' for other kinds of projects, and I think it is the most intuitive and easily used of all their programs. It handles pictures, cropping, resizing, and text beautifully. Your layout can be tweaked until it is just perfect, and nothing has been 'glue-committed'. (You can even select your layered art and save it as a flat picture to use elsewhere.) This method has liberated the way I think about composing my collages.

 Once I had the banner fixed, I copied all the separate images needed, on to new pages in the same document. Just these pages were then printed, cut out, and assembled on 4.5"X 6.5" DCWV black chipboard. Buttons, glitter, ultra thick clear embossing powder on the letters, and scrapbook embellishments, finished the look. The panels are held together with two short lengths of ribbon hot glued at the top and bottom on the backs to act as hinges.

This new way of working has absolutely liberated me from my novice hangups. It has proved to be so much fun, that I am now working on an entire Halloween alphabet collage, and a Christmas banner much like this one. If you have any questions concerning about how to use this method, I would be happy to answer your questions.

Thank you so much for taking the time to look at this. I would love for you to leave a comment, especially so I will know if this is something that interests you too, and something I should share in the future.

Happy Halloween, or at least the thought of cooler weather!