MIM # 72 and Winner Announcement

Make It Monday #72: Step It Up - Embellishments

Hello again!  I am so delighted that there were many, many of you who left comments for the June Blog Hop post.   Now I get to announce the winner of the $25.00 gift certificate to Papertrey Ink!

This is my first giveaway-eek!  I'm so excited!!  Since I am not connected to any random generator,   I cut up paper and wrote a number for each of the comments, and pulled #30 RENEE

   CONGRATULATIONS!

Please send your e-mail address to suzannebrussell@gmail.com and I will get the gift certificate off to you today!  Thanks so much for participating in the celebration with me.

Now, on to a new card, three cards actually since the challenge is Step-It-Up Embellishments by Dawn McVey.  I fell in love with Lovely Layers the very first time I saw Nichole's "You Make Me Happy" card during the countdown posts earlier in the month.  Such a romantic style and I love the way she and Dawn both stacked the colorful layers so I could not resist using the same set for my project today.  I chose a little used color for my card stock, Spring Rain.  It is so hot around here (we are in the +100's already), I wanted to cool things down a bit.  This brought to mind the dainty little pair of Jasper ware vases given to me by my grandmother as a wedding gift.  I think they are probably Wedgewood knock offs, but I admired them in her house as I grew up, and she graciously parted with them in celebration of my wedding, so they are dear to me.  This thought led me to create a wedding card.

1.  As with Dawn's tutorial, I started with a simple approach.  Actually this is all four die cuts from Lovely Layers, stamped and popped up on foam adhesive, but this image is the most basic part of the design for me.  The leaves are stamped with Simply Chartreuse ink, the veins of the leaves are done in Dark Chocolate.  The four smaller leaves are stamped with Spring Rain and their veins, as well as the flower petals, are stamped with Blueberry Sky.  The tiny scalloped edge of the flower center is stamped with Enchanted Evening, and the center is Simply Chartreuse again.

2.  Instead of adding more to the top of the embellishment, I added more to the back.  I used a Doily Detail Die on Vintage Cream card stock, adhering it directly onto the Spring Rain card base.

3.  For the final step-up, I replaced the doily with two die cuts from the Limitless Layers, Squares die set which are also from the June Release.  This step was really fun.  I first cut the basic square from Vintage Cream, cut it again aligning the four leaf die from Lovely Layers die set with the four corners.  Secondly, I used the open scallop LL-Squares die on Blueberry Sky card stock, and repeated the cut with the four leaf die allowing the two mats to stack up and reveal the base color underneath.  Attaching the basic image over this just made me giggle!  I really like the way it turned out.  The sentiment, from Love and Marriage was stamped with VersaMark Ink and heat embossed with white.

So that's all for this post.  I hope you have already checked out this week's challenge, but if not, click on the link above, and give it a try!

Thanks for stopping by,

Suzanne

Pretty in Pink - CFC58

Hello and Happy Wednesday to you!

I have a quick post for today as I am sneaking in under the wire for the challenge at CAS-ual Friday this week:  A clean and simple project using pink.

I love playing around with Papertrey Ink's newly released Happy Hexagons stamp set and the Hexagons Cover Plate that makes it such a breeze to implement.  However, I was conflicted about the results and would appreciate some honest feedback.  As you will see, I have two cards, either of which I am pleased to submit for this challenge, but I am not thrilled with either.  I love the idea,  especially the glittered "Queen Bee".  Any suggestions?

I've included the complete supply list at the end.  I'm looking forward to hearing from you on this one!

Thanks for stopping by,

Suzanne

Supplies:  All PTI unless noted

Card stock:  white

Inks:  Raspberry Fizz, Hibiscus Burst, Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, Autumn Rose

Stamp Sets:  Happy Hexagons, Honey Bees

Dies:  Hexagon Cover Plate

Martha Stewart crystal fine glitter, ZIG glue pen

June Blog Hop at Papertrey Ink

check it out at http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/

Hello!  I've missed you!  Not only am I glad to be back to blogging, TODAY IS MY FIRST ANNIVERSARY!!!!  One year ago today, I posted for the first time with an entry to the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop.  I have learned so much over the past year from all of you.  So much inspiration, so much encouragement to keep trying new techniques, colors and styles.  Many of my smiles have truly started with reading the kind comments you have left for me, so today's card is just for you!  Thanks for sharing the celebration with me.

Are you wondering if I am offering a little anniversary gift?  Why yes, I am!  A $25.00 Gift Certificate from Papertrey Ink will be given to the lucky duck whose name I randomly select from the comments on today's post.  I will announce the winner on Thursday, June 28 by noon, CST.



Here's the Inspiration Photo:

 

Today's inspiration photo immediately took me to the newly released Natural Beauty stamp set.  What a fantastic stamp set!  The options seem limitless and the images are gorgeous.  (Thanks Nichole!)  Since I'm not a big fan of lace and ruffles and such, My focus was on building a beautiful floral background similar to the largest pillow, and the puffy yellow pillow in front.  Both the background mat and the sentiment frame are popped up on foam adhesive.  The yellow circles are coated with fine crystal glitter. I adore these colors!

Here's my card:

Thanks for all the smiles!  Leave a comment, 'cause I want YOU to get the gift certificate!

Thanks for stopping by, 

Suzanne

Supplies:  All PTI unless noted

Card stock:  Lemon Tart, Aqua Mist

Stamp sets:  Natural Beauty, Fancy Flourishes, Fillable Frames #10

Ink:  New Leaf

Dies:  FF #10

Other:  Martha Stewart  fine crystal glitter, trim (gift from a friend), 1/8" Scor-Tape, Dimensional Foam Adhesive

P.S.  Did you notice that I have a new header?  Karen Baker at http://thebalddragonfly.blogspot.com/ did a great job-exactly what I asked for.  If you are looking for a new design, she has lots of examples under "Custom Blog Designs".  Check it out!

CASE study # 93, Moxie Fab World Gingham Challenge and Spatter Challenge

Good Morning and Happy Monday!  


The sun has not yet risen on this new week, but I have tons to accomplish before I leave town on Wednesday so I am up and at 'em.  I'm glad I get to squeeze in one more entry for  Moxie Fab World Gingham Challenge which ends today.  Apparently, I am not the only one who is a little "giddy for gingham"!  Check out the great cards submitted for the challenge and in Card Creations Volume 10 magazine.


AND CASE study # 93 has hosted guest designer, AGA during the month of May, and this is the last chance to case her beautiful style.  So here's my card:

I was particularly inspired by the misted panel, banner detail, and large floral focal image of Aga's card:

Here is a close-up of my focal image, shined up a bit using a Sakura Glaze Pen.  I used the same treatment on the sentiment banner.

I chose the landscape orientation because of the misting.  I love the randomness that comes with using misting products such as Mister Huey in Pretty Pink, but I can't quite get the larger, spattered effect yet.  I'll have to work on this technique some more.  I bought a variety of Mister Huey colors and look forward to the practice.  As you can see, the focal image as well as the misted panel are raised up on dimensional foam.  The card base is made from Papertrey Ink Simply Chartreuse Pattern Paper Collection.  I am a little nuts about the patterns as well as the available colors for these 8 1/2 X 11 pattern packages.  I'm adding them to a lot of projects where I have not used patterns before. The chartreuse gingham is showing up a lot!

I guess it's time to get on with the rest of my day.  I hope your week holds lots of crafting time.  Leave a comment for me so that I

 can visit you in return and see what you're up to as well!

Thanks for stopping by,

Suzanne

other supplies:

White card stock, bulk supply 

Inks:  PTI Simply Chartreuse, Raspberry Fizz

Stamp sets:  PTI Simple Sunflower, Scripted Sentiments

PTI button, twine  

The Gingham Challenge

Hello again!

There are deadlines everywhere, but this is one I don't want to miss.  Gingham is one of my favorite patterns (second only to polka dots).  Consequently, I fell in love with every one of the cards submitted to Moxie Fab World Gingham Challenge!  The deadline that I missed, over at PTI for the May 2012 Papertrey Blog Hop, was actually the inspiration for this card.  

I'm keeping this brief today, so here's the card:

Hope you like!

Thanks for stopping by, 

Suzanne

supplies:  All Papertrey Ink unless noted

Cardstocks:  Simply Chartreuse, Spring Moss, White

Patterned Paper:  Gingham from Smokey Shadow Pattern Pack

Inks:  Simply Chartreuse, Memento Tuxedo Black

Stamps:  On the Farm

Other:  Ribbon from Hobby Lobby, Sizzix Embossing Folder, Beautiful Blooms #1 dies, Source unknown for the following: tiny flower punch, dew drops, dimensional foam adhesive

Make It Monday #68

Hi there!  Happy Wednesday to you.  I hope this holiday weekend was a time of rest and relaxation for you and your family as well as a celebration of the lives of the men and women who have died in the cause of peace and democracy around the world.  Yes, it is an American holiday, one of which I am extremely proud.  One that we still observe with respect and reverence as we remember the cost of our freedoms.  My father was in the battle of Okinawa toward the end of WWII.  He was on a battleship a mere 100 miles from the shore when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.  He returned home with only a small piece of shrapnel in his face to remind him forever of the many days and nights in that ship on the rolling Pacific Ocean under many attacks of the Japanese Kami-Kazi pilots.  I spent many nights around the dinner table rolling my eyes as he would recall over and over again the stories of that time in his life.  Sorry, Daddy, that I wasn't more respectful at the time.  Thank you for doing your part in changing the world.

Ok,  now that I'm off my soapbox, would you like to see the pocket card I made for this week's MIM challenge by Heather Nichols?

I just can't seem to make a pocket card that doesn't contain a gift card.  I love the simple design of Heather's card and used the same dimensions and orientation as she, but added the gift card inside. I marked the corners of the card and made diagonal cuts with a craft knife across those corners to hold the gift card in place.  

I had lots of fun combining stamp sets to create the sentiment I was looking for.  I hope you get the pun!  

The striped Washi tape is custom made using the Candy Cane Christmas stamp set with Hibiscus Burst Ink.  I am fascinated with the phenomenon of Washi tape, but just can't bring myself to start another "micro-addiction", so I have decided to ride out the trend making my own-small batch style.  I was first introduced to this idea by Nichole Heady in this MIM last October.  I will be sharing this technique with my stamp club at our June meeting.

I have added a complete list of supplies at the bottom of the post.  I've missed being around most of the month and look forward to catching up with you!

Thanks for stopping by,

Suzanne

Supplies:  All Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted

Cardstock:  bulk purchase from Sam's Club

Stamp sets:  Heart-2-Heart #4, Happy Day, Birthday Basics, Little Bitty Bird, Fillable Frames #5,            Candy Cane Christmas

Dies:  Heart-2-Heart #4

Inks:  Simply Chartreuse, Hibiscus Burst, Memento Tuxedo Black

Other:  Hibiscus Brust Ribbon, "Worn Lipstick" Distress Marker, corner rounder punch

Make It Monday #65

Good Morning and Happy Friday!  

The challenge from Dawn McVey this week is called "Background Patterns from Patterned Paper Scraps".  Check out her video HERE.  It took two days for me to work through an idea I had in my head and another two days for me to muster the courage to post it here, today.  I hardly ever use patterned papers so I don't have a big supply of scraps.  This challenge really revealed how difficult it is for me to coordinate patterns and colors.  I actually have three different projects-two I am happy with, the other...well let's just say it could still end up in the trash.  

Here's my submission for the challenge:

  I had this small pile of 1/4" strips and quite by accident, found that I could line up the dots giving the impression of multi-colored stripes.  Voila!  I had a background made from five different patterned papers!  For the focal image, I chose to work with felt, I used an assortment of Flower Fusion Dies, hand trimmed the leaves, and used 1/4" and 1/8" hole punches for two of the flower centers to embellish the mat stack #3 frame.  This sentiment is going to get quite a work out as I make LOTS of birthday cards and love to use the word "FABULOUS"! This large dot pattern is truly a new favorite for me-in all of the colors.  I am delighted that I will have the opportunity to have it in such a large assortment of colors as these pattern packs continue to be released.

Here is the source of the 1/4" scraps that inspired my design:

                                     

This is a Mother's Day gift for my daughter, which includes 8 cards with white envelopes lined with coordinating colors.  I actually forgot that I had the same pattern in Melon Berry until I was creating the challenge card.  She will receive two more cards in the additional color!

Finally, my first attempt at coordinating patterns for this challenge:

There is just too much going on in this card for me-It feels forced and I was not very satisfied.  I had this image in my head of a rather CAS card, vertical orientation with the large focal image and a small white strip across the bottom to carry the sentiment but it didn't work.  I really like the bright Summer Sunrise "hello" against the large dots so the orientation changed and this is how it ended up.  

So, that's what I've been up to in card-making this week.  Hope your weekend is full of sunshine and you get to enjoy a little time off from the weekly routine.  Ta-ta for now!

Thanks for stopping by, 

Suzanne

Supplies:  All PTI unless noted

Cardstock:  (1) Soft Stone, Raspberry Fizz

                   (2) Soft Stone, Smokey Shadow, Raspberry Fizz

                   (3) Soft Stone, White, Summer Sunrise

Pattern Paper:  Pattern Packs in Smokey Shadow, Melon Berry, Simply Chartreuse, Aqua Mist, Raspberry Fizz

Ink:  VersaFine Onyx black

Stamp set:  Tagged Sentiments

Dies: (1) Mat Stack #3, Layerz #3, Flower Fusion #1, #3, #12

         (2) Block Alphabet, lower case

         (3) Notched Flowers, Rosie Posie, Block Alphabet

Other:  Polka Dot Brad, 1/4" and 1/8" hole punches