Embellish Magazine Challenge - Butterflies

I was intrigued by the colors in a recent challenge by EmbellishMagazine (as well as the use of butterflies). Well I just received my butterfly die from PTI and I was excited to put it to use. Here is the challenge information:

Here is my response to the challenge....

Here is a close up of the butterfly - you can really see the texture in the felt and impression in the cardstock. Notice I took the picture at an angle which is what Ashley Newell does in her photos. Ashley Newell is the founder of EmbellishMagazine.com and the source of the challenge.

I like that this card can be masculine or feminine because of the colors chosen. Now, I was so in love with this felt that I used the remaining piece and created another card to coordinate - all because the felt scrap was so cute that I didn't have the heart to throw it away. I also managed to use my new eyelet lace die from PTI - cut it in half to create the scallop edge around the whole image.

And here is a close up...

I hope you enjoy this card and consider taking on the challenge yourself. If you are interested check this out. Have a wonderful day!

All supplies are PTI unless otherwise noted

Card #1 "Wonderful Friend"
Stamps: Round & Round
Ink: Chestnut Roan (Colorbox)
Cardstock: Kraft, A Proper Gentlemen (Graphic 45), Black (DCWV)
Embellishments: Simply Chartreuse Felt, Simply Chartreuse Ribbon, black pearls (Queen & Co)
Tools: Linen Impression Plate

Card #2
Stamps: none
Ink: Chestnut Roan (Colorbox)
Cardstock: Kraft, Ripe Avocado, A Proper Gentlemen (Graphic 45), Cream (misc)
Embellishments: Simply Chartreuse Felt, black pearls (Queen & Co)
Tools: Eyelet Lace Border

PPD Challenge #5 (2 cards)

Hello Everyone,

I am trying to get back into the swing of things here at the blog and have 2 different cards for the same challenge. I belong to a fabulous group called the Papertrey Paper Dolls and we have our own blog and weekly challenge. This week's challenge is to create a card using Berry Sorbet, Hawaiian Shores and Dark Chocolate colors (PTI). I came up with 2 different cards as a result of me playing with some new background stamps and some Color Couture goodies...let me know what you think.

Here is a close up which shows the amazing linen texture added to the dark chocolate cardstock as well as the cuteness of the Color Couture embellishments.

The second card came about when I was playing with my Guidelines stamp set. I am still working on my technique but thought it would be fun to share...mistakes and all.

The second photo highlights the other side of the linen impression plate on the circle (hawaiian shores) behind the embellishment tag. This impression plate may be my favorite to date!

I hope you have all enjoyed these cards as much as I enjoyed making them. Keep on the lookout for my next post which is going to be a dad-related scrapbook layout using some fun new Graphic 45 paper I picked up at Archivers. As always, happy crafting everyone!

All supplies are PTI unless otherwise noted

Card #1 "Hope you Birthday is filled with all the things you love!"

Stamps: Background Basics: Geometrics and Tin Types
Ink: Chai, Berry Sorbet and Hawaiian Shores
Cardstock: Berry Sorbet, Hawaiian Shores, Dark Chocolate, Stamper's Select White
Embellishments: Color Couture Vol 3, Rhinestones (Kaiserkraft), Chocolate Ribbon (Offray)
Tools: Mat Stack Die 1, Linen Impression Plate, Medium Scallop Die, Cuttlebug

Card #1 "So glad we're friends!"


Stamps: Background Basics: Tin Types, Guidelines
Ink: Chai, Dark Chocolate, Berry Sorbet and Hawaiian Shores, Chestnut Roan (Colorbox)
Cardstock: Berry Sorbet, Hawaiian Shores, Dark Chocolate, Stamper's Select White
Embellishments: Color Couture Vol 3, Rhinestones (Kaiserkraft), Chocolate Ribbon (Offray)
Tools: Mat Stack Die 2, Linen Impression Plate, Cuttlebug

Teacher's Gift #4 (The Music Teacher)

Here is the second male teacher gift card set. I purchased some old sheet music that acted as designer paper matted by black cardstock. The center strip is a soft grey cardstock with a strip of Pure Poppy cardstock (PTI). All the edges are distressed with my charcoal cats eye. I added some black pearls on either side of the stamped quote from an older CTMH stamp set.

Here is the actual card from the set given to the music teacher. The design was the inspiration for the outside decoration in the photo above. I looped some red ribbon (Offray) to add a splash of color to an otherwise monotone color scheme.

Here is a close up of the red ribbon loops.

I hope the music teacher enjoys his gift card set. I hope you are all having a wonderful Sunday afternoon.

Teacher's Gift #3

Here is the third gift set for my step-son's teachers. This set uses paper from the Cafe Mediterranean (DCWV) line. The colors are bright and fun.


Here is one of the card designs. This particular set has 2 different designs. I am not a big fan of using orange but I very excited about how these turned out. I was able to use my new Orange Zest ink pad and the Fillable Frame #2 set. I threw on some cute pearls and a flower and voila!

Here is a close up of the flower and frame. I love the orange and limey green together. It looks so fresh and fun and the pearls add a nice touch too.

Thanks for checking out today's post. Tomorrow will be the last gift post so I can move on to more scrapping and card designs. I have a number of challenges for cards and the PTI Scrapbook challenge for May to get done. As always, happy crafting everyone!

All supplies are PTI unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Fillable Frame # 2, Daily Design Sentiments
Ink: Orange Zest
Cardstock: Cafe Mediterranean (DCWV)
Embellishments: Pearls (misc), Flower (misc), Lime ribbon (Offray)
Tools: Fillable Frame #2 die, Cuttlebug

Teacher's Gift #2

Here is a set another set of cards for my step-son's teachers. This is a female set so he can choose which teacher would like the look of this set more. I wanted a pretty and classic look. I used an old 5x7 paper stack from DCWV (one of my favorites) and added some chocolate ink, paper and ribbon. I have to say that chocolate is the new black!

Here is a close up of the tag front. The chocolate tag is made with Fillable Frame #1 and the smaller version is from a new EK Success punch. I think they work nicely together. I have also added 3 pearls to the front as I think it goes with the style of the overall design.

The final picture is an example of one of the cards in the set. Each set has 2 to 3 different cards designs. The overall layout is the same for each card (to make my life easy as I have to do 6 sets) but the paper and the embellishment could be different. I like to think that this has a simple but elegant look.

Thanks for looking today. Tomorrow will bring another Teacher Gift Set. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday!

All supplies are PTI unless otherwise noted
Stamps:
Ink: Chocolate, Chestnut Roan (Colorbox)
Cardstock: Chocolate, DCWV
Embelishments: Chocolate Ribbon (Offray), Pearls
Tools: EK Success Punch, Fillable Frame #1 die

Teacher's Gifts #1

Well it has been a bit longer than a week but I am back!  The 5K went very well and now I am focusing like a laser on teacher's gifts for my step-son's 6 teachers. I decided to make them note card sets and placing them in one of the plastic containers my PTI stamp sets come in. Here are a few photos...

This is the outside of the plastic case that I have decorated for one of my step-son's male teachers. I mixed two impression plates (Woodgrain and Dots) with new leaf paper, woodgrain stamp background and the Mat stack 1 die. The buttons are from my own collection and the chocolate brown ribbon is from Offray.

 

Here is a close up of the tag on the front which hightlights the Mat Stack 1, Masculine Motifs stamps and the woodgrain background stamp set. I love the combination of New Leaf anf Chocolate colors.

I love these classic brown buttons. The swirls in the botton mimic the wave in the paper from the woodgrain impression plate.

I will share another teacher gift set tomorrow. It is good to be back in crafty business...happy crafting!

All supplies are PTI unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Masculine Motifs, Background Basics: Woodgrain
Ink: Chocolate
Cardstock: New Leaf, Kraft Very Vanilla (SU)
Embelishments: Buttons, Chocolate Ribbon (Offray)
Tools: Woodgrain and Polka Dot Basics Impression Plates, Mat Stack Die #1, Cuttlebug,

Week of May 10th - Quiet time on the Blog this week

Big times right now in the Stephens' household so there will be limited postings this week. Definitely no Cricut postings with layouts. I am working on teacher's gifts for all my step-son's teachers (6 packages of 10 note cards) so I may try and post a picture or two from those creations. It is also my anniversary this week and Rob (hubby) and I are in training and will run out first 5K on Saturday morning. So much to do and not enough time to get it done.

I hope you all have a wonderful week and can craft as much as you can!

As promised, here are the fun cards I made with the remaining party hats from the K&Company pack from Wal-Mart. Yesterday was the birthday layout. Below are two A2 side cards mixed with some cute 3" square cards.

The card below is a 4" square card. I think the white gel pen frame looks so great on the yellow. This will make for a nice gift tag.

The final card was inspired by the scrapbook layout with the party hats running down the left side.  I may save this card for my MIL for her birthday next month.

No supply list for this one. Just the K&Company hats and random bits from my craft space. I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Party Hats - Birthday Layout

Today's post was inspired by a Wal-Mart shopping moment. I was out of town and ran into a Wal-mart for some groceries. As always, I go by the craft section just in case I see something unique. Well, this visit I can across some cute K&Company party hat stickers on sale. ON SALE! So I grabbed them off the shelf and went to the register. This is the time of year my family calls little Christmas because over half of the family has their birthday within a 2 month period and I have tons of cards to make. So this post is one example of what I could do with these cute little embellies.

Tadah! A birthday layout with bright colors, party hats and a fun new technique with ribbon.

The first close up is of the new ribbon technique I learned from a video tutorial from Ashley Cannon Newell. I think it is so pretty. I will have to use this technique again. It is just the right touch of whimsy. The space below it will be used for journaling someone's birthday event. Notice that this Hot Pink ribbon is a great match for the Raspberry Fizz paper.

The next picture is a close up of one of the cute hats placed in a square piece of Kraft cardstock and trimmed with my white gel pen. I liked the look so much that I used the gel pen throughout the layout.

The final pictures shows the mixture of hats I used along the left side of the layout. I love the way this layout came out. The colors and the cute little hats make this a fun birthday layout that will work for either a male or female birthday.

All supplies are PTI unless otherwise noted

Stamps: n/a
Ink: n/a
Cardstock: Kraft, Lemon Tart and Raspberry Fizz, Blue (Bazill)
Embelishments: K&Company Party Hats, Hot Pink Ribbon (Offray)
Tools: Pop Dots, Scor Tape, White Gel Pen
Technique: Smooshed Ribbon inspired by Ashley Cannon Newell

The remaining hats were used to decorate various birthday cards - which I will share over the weekend on the blog. I hope you all have a wonderful Friday! Happy crafting.

Summer Vacation Cartridge - Hello Card

This card is a quick and easy one using the Summer Vacation Solutions cartridge. The paper was from the Moxie paper highlighted in the earlier 2 page layout with a cute sign from the cartridge (cut at 3") and a simple sentiment.All supplies are PTI unless otherwise noted:

Stamps: Fillabel Frames #1
Ink: Dark Chocolate
Cardstock: Paprika (The Paper Company), Tangerine Blast and Cream (Bazill), Stamper's Select White
Pattern Paper: Camping (Moxie)
Tools: Pop Dots, Summer Vacation Solutions cartridge (ProvoCraft)

Come back tomorrow to see a great birthday layout I created using some cute party hats from K&Company. Happy Crafting everyone!

PTI - Fillable Frames #3 (Hip Hip Hooray)

Here is a really simple card I made using scraps of Kraft and Ocean Tides paper. I mixed the PTI cardstock with the super cute Max and Wiskers Paper from Basic Grey. Throwing in some beautiful ribbon and the sentiment and die cut from Fillable Frames #3 and voila...a cute card.
 All supplies are PTI unless otherwise noted

Stamps: Fillable Frames #3
Ink: Chai, Dark Chocolate and Ocean Tides
Cardstock: Kraft, Ocean Tides
Pattern Paper: Max & Wiskers Paper Pad (Basic Grey)
Embelishments: Creme Brulee Ribbon (CTMH)
Tools: Rick Rack Die, Fillable Frame #3 Due

I hope you enjoyed this card. This card serves as a reminder that all scraps can be new once again! Happy crafting everyone.

A close up below of the die cut and stamped sentiment from Fillable Frames. This design was inspired by a small scrap of Kraft paper I had from the Paper Dolls Challenge. I only had enough of a scrap to make part of the frame so I designed is the come off the side of the card to balance the use of the rick rack scrap on the left side of the card.

The ribbon below was created thanks to the tutorial on ribbon-tying by Dawn McVey (she is awesome). The ribbon wraps around the scrap of Ocean Tides paper, again a scrap from my Paper Dolls Challenge card. My PTI cardstock is so precious that every scrap needs to be used. Hah!

Summer Vacation Cartridge - Camping Layout

I am continuing with the Summer Vacation Solutions cartridge by ProvoCraft this week as I did not get all my projects done last week. This week I will have this 2 page layout and a card (come back Thursday for that one). This layout is all about Campling. My husband and step-son go on a father-son camping trip each year so this year I am ready for them!

On page one I created a tent (cut at 3") and fire that coordinates with the fun paper I found by Moxie - from their Camping and Roughing It Lines. The second page shows a trailer from the cartridge that also goes with the cute paper.

Here is a close up of the fire (cut at 2-1/2"). I layered multiple colors to make the fire and attached it to the ribbon that wraps around the photo mat.

The close up of the trailer (cut at 3") with the bright burning orange ribbon wrapped around the other photo mat. This is truly a wonderful cartridge for all those family trips. I have at least 2 or 3 more layouts planned for this one.

Supplies:

Ink: Chestnut Roan (Colorbox Chalk Ink)
Cardstock: Chocolate (CTMH), Tangerine Blast (Bazill), Paprika (The Paper Company)
Patterned Paper: Roughing It and Camping (Moxie)
Embelishments: Torch Orange Ribbon (Offray)
Tools: Summer Vacation Solution Cartridge (ProvoCraft)

I hope you enjoyed this layout. Tomorrow will be a cute card made with PTI products and then on Thursday a simple and sweet card using the Summer Vacation Cartridge.

Happy Crafting!

Papertrey Paper Dolls Challenge #2

This is my first time taking part in the Paper Dolls Weekly Challenge. This is a great group I joined through the Papertrey Ink Forum. If you are interested in taking part in the weekly challenges take a look every Thursday at the following website: http://papertreypaperdolls.blogspot.com/.

The following is the second challenges offered by Meghan.

Here is my take on the design. I combined some fun Basic Grey Paper with flowers colored with Copics and PTI dies.

Here is a close up of the flowers. I colored each one using my Copics then added a brown button to each and popped them all up.

The final pictures shows my use of my PTI dies. I used the rick-rack and the BB#2 dies. I added a cute sentiment and was done.

All supplies are PTI unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Mega Mixed Messages
Ink: Dark Chocolate, Chai
Cardstock: Kraft, Ocean Tides, Max & Wiskers Paper Pad (Basic Grey)
Embelishments: Color Me Crazy Flowers (Petaloo), Brown Buttons, Ric-rack Die, Beautiful Blooms Die #2 (small and medium)
Tools: Pop Dots, Copic Markers (E35 and BG75)