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's 'It's A Wrap' Challange

Over at Papertrey Ink, they are having their 6th Anniversary party and monthly release, which means they are giving folks lots of opportunities to win terrific prizes; one prize is worth $300 in merchandise. (I didn't get to enter that one, but good luck if you did.)

Papertrey is launching a new section of their on-line store, Boutique Bargains, which will feature ever-changing embellishments and surfaces (i.e. fabric bags and resin flowers) on which to create with their products. To challenge us to start thinking about creating wraps or gift packaging, we were to find an inspirational picture, and make our 'wrap' item using at least one of their items.

I chose this Pinterest picture of strawberries on black. Recently, Papertrey's January Blog Hop featured compositions on dark backgrounds. As a lover of tole painting (doing and looking), bright colors on a black field float my boat. For a long time I have needed to replace an old eyeglasses case that fell apart. By taking apart the case, and tracing around the outside, I was able to make a copy that would accept the hard insert from the original.

The picture above shows die cut felt pieces from the Strawberry Patch Die Collection, case pieces cut from black felt, and Clover's felting needle and felting surface (top left). The strawberry layout (roughly taken from the stamp set "Strawberry Patch"), has had the leaves and berries embroidered with black details and then felted to the front piece.

 NOTE

The back of the felt (image on right) has some of the fibers from the pieces showing through. (If you aren't familiar with needle felting, it involves interlocking felt fibers using tiny hooked needles (think crochet hook), pouncing up and down through both layers of felt.)

Then I embroidered the stems and tendrils, and added the blossoms on top of the berries and in the middle of the top flap.

Here's the finished project. I made a 5/8" strip of black felt, and buttonhole stitched it, from the top of one side of the front, to the top on the other side. I cut the strip even with the top front, and then attached the back.

Papertrey items used: Strawberry Patch Die Set, Strawberry Patch Stamp Set (for composition), Pure Poppy 100% wool felt (sigh).

Thanks for taking the time to look and leave a comment. Have fun and good luck on winning one of the fabulous gifts from Papertrey. There's no such thing as 'too much Papertrey'!

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!