PTI April Blog Hop

Hi, everyone, it's been a long time since I participated in a PTI blog hop, but as soon as I saw the challenge--use tissue paper--I knew what I wanted to do: make a candle!

First you stamp your design on the tissue paper (measured to the height of your candle and as long as the candle is around). Then you wrap the tissue around the candle, kind of hold it in place with wax paper, and melt the tissue into your candle with your heat gun. Easy as pie! But don't burn your fingers. Quick and easy gift idea!

Here I've used Honey Bees and Out on a Limb Sentiments. In hindsight, I maybe should have used more vibrant colors--some of these are almost too subtle. I used Palette Burnt Umber, Lavender Moon, Plum Pudding, Lemon Tart, and Summer Sunrise, and SU Certainly Celery.

Well, that's my entry for the challenge--can't wait to see what everyone else has created! Happy stamping!

Fly Away Cards

Today I had a blast playing with my new PTI set Fly Away. It has 2 cute airplanes plus a banner they can tow and some sentiments that fit the banner. Here I decided not to use the banner. In a recent issue of Paper Crafts, it seemed everyone was using cloud paper. I didn't have any, so I tried making my own by stenciling. Well, I didn't like that, so I used my Cricut and the Stand and Salute cartridge, sent to me by my dear stamping buddy in Wilmington, Teresa. I used it for the clouds, sponged them in SU Bashful Blue, and stamped the sentiment from PTI's Everyday Button Bits on the bottom cloud--it fit perfectly! The plane is stamped in PTI's Pure Poppy. Card Base is GKD, layer is Bashful Blue textured, brads are SU. I absolutely LOVE how this turned out!

This next card is much the same, but has a completely different look. I used the Stand and Salute cartridge to cut out the camouflage elements in Soft Suede, Always Artichoke, and Old Olive and mounted them on River Rock. I stamped the plane in Palette Burnt Umber and colored it with SU markers, cut it out, mounted on foam tape on RR and AA. Added red star brads from HL. Sentiment is from Father Knows Best by PTI. Hope you've enjoyed these two cards. I had so much fun making them! I think I will be using this camo BG for lots of masc. cards from now on! Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping.

Need a Couch Day?

Today my friend Angela posted a card on her blog that used pinks and yellows together. That color combo made me so happy I had to make one of my own. I used OMC and OMCA, plus the new PTI set, Chair-ished (for the floor lamp). I die cut the couch from Lemon Tart Bitty Dot DP and then stamped it with the outline couch in Berry Sorbet. I took a blender pen and dabbed it on the Berry Sorbet ink pad and colored the feet of the couch. I stamped the rug and pillow in BS. I stamped the lamp twice on my panel, once for the top and once for the bottom, because it wasn't as tall as I wanted it to be. I stamped the shade on Bitty Dot Sweet Blush and cut it out and paper pieced it. Popped the couch up on foam tape, added the wire clip (from Mike's--a perfect match to Sweet Blush) and ribbon, and the sent. On the inside it says "potato optional". Card base is Lemon Tart, layer is Berry Sorbet. I love these colors together and will probably be using this combo a lot more. Hope you've enjoyed it too!

(More) New Stamps and FTL 86

So it's no secret that I am in love with PTI's On My Couch and OMC additions set. Now they've come out with a companion set called "Chair-ished" so of course I had to have it. When I saw the current sketch over at CAS, I knew it would be great for this set. AND--Ta-dah! I used Kraft CS for the first time! Still not sure what all the fuss is about, but I do like it with the orange. Card base is Gina K heavy base weight kraft. Orange panel is some PTI Orange Zest that my friend Banu sent me a while back--thanks Banu! Buttons are mostly PTI--orange and little square one are from Banu as well. I stamped two of the chairs on patterned paper, PTI's Bitty Baby Blessings and Bitty Dot Spring Moss. The third chair is watercolored with a pale yellow though it doesn't show up well in the photo. I used Palette Burnt Umber ink. Sent is from one of the OMC sets (I needed a get well card). Ric rac border is die cut from Close to Cocoa CS (SU) using PTI's die. I am pleased with how this turned out--hope you like it too!

Elzybells Floral Fervour

I am not usually one to make single layer cards, but I have been inspired by the CAS blog. And this stamp set from Elzybells lends itself well to lovely single layer cards. I stamped the dandelion head and blowing seeds in SU white craft and embossed with a mix of white and iridescent ice EP on SU Cool Caribbean (ret.). I stamped the stem and leaf in Wild Wasabi (coming back!). The sent. is from PTI's Mega Mixed Messages set, stamped in Cool C. I thought about adding ribbon, but it didn't really seem to need it. I look forward to playing with this set some more. This card is 3.25" x 6.25". Thanks for looking and happy stamping!

There She Goes Swap Card

My friend Michele L. over on SCS is hosting a There She Goes swap. You can read about it HERE. She introduced me to TSG with a set that she helped design, Chemistry. Michele is a chemistry teacher. I guess it was very popular, because TSG came out with a companion set, Chem. 101. Science geek that I am, I had to have both sets, plus a cute little Halloween set. But once I signed up for the swap, I was stumped. What to do? I was procrastinating one day and looking at the Resources page over at SCS for something entirely different, when I ran across the tutorial "Heated Pearls". I have done this technique before and I love it. I thought it would be great for the Chemistry set. I proceeded to make some BGs. Then, because Pearl-Ex looks so wonderful on black, I embossed the image and sentiment in white and colored the image with Pearl-Ex. Keep in mind, before we had Twinkling H2O's, if you wanted to watercolor with Pearl-Ex, you had to mix it with gum arabic and let it harden--presto, Twinkling H2O's! So that's what the test tubes are colored with. I then embellished with SU ribbon and brads in Tempting Turquoise and Green Galore (GG is going away this year--boo-hoo!) and popped everything up on dimensionals. I kept the LO very basic. Sentiment reads: If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the precipitate. That cracks me up! My DH's fave was "We do things in the lab that would be illegal in your garage". He very briefly had a home brew hobby. Oh, well enough rambling! Have a great day!

Inspired Crafter Sketch #3

Hi! Nothing like being punctual! This card I finished today, but it is for a sketch from about 2 or 3 weeks ago on the ICC blog--you can see it HERE! Again I've used retiring SU colors, here Only Orange, Summer Sun, Taken with Teal, and Brilliant Blue. Stamped image is Extreme Surfer from SU stamped in T with Teal. I used Cricut Cartridge Life is a Beach to cut the waves and Hibiscus, and Graphically Speaking to cut the sentiment. Reminds me of that old Beach Boys song--"Catch a wave and you're sittin' on top of the world"--I love the Beach Boys! I am so pleased with the way this card turned out--I love it! I've got a lot more plans for this stamp--more to come on that later! Happy stamping!

Fall To Layout #85

I made this for the FTL 85 over on the Clean and Simple blog. I just got Fanciful Flourishes from My Time Made Easy. I knew it would be perfect for this layout. I stamped the vine in Certainly Celery and the little flowers in Apricot Appeal, one of my fave colors which SU will be retiring this year. Thank goodness they aren't retiring Certainly Celery or I'd probably have to quit stamping! I used a retired SU set, Noteworthy, for the sentiment. I used my Embosslits to die cut that tiny butterfly out of some DP. The scalloped oval layer is punched out of the same DP. This card is 3" x 6". It's not a size I usually make, and come to think of it I rarely make single layer cards either. The CAS blog has a lot of great designs for those. I like the little flower in this set; I want to get some liquid pearls for the centers. Thanks for stopping by!

Elegant Birthday

I got the Lovely Labels set from Gina K Designs a while back and haven't had a chance to play with it until today. I love the Nestabilities dies and am a sucker for any stamp set with images that coordinate with them. This is a particularly beautiful one. I stamped one of the labels (as it turns out, one I DON'T have the Nestie for, but not to worry!) in Groovy Guava. The SU set Sincere Salutations had greetings that went well with the style of this set and also fit in the space. I stamped it in Chocolate Chip. Card base is Groovy Guava, DP is Afternoon Tea, embellishments are organdy ribbon and pearls. I punched the corners with SU's new Scallop Trim corner punch. I love how this turned out and it was quick and easy too. Can't get much better than that! As I said, I don't have this particular Nestie, but I have discovered a wonderful lady, Penny Duncan, who designs SVG files for SCAL and Cricut. You can see her blog HERE. And she has made some that are Nestie shaped. Now I didn't use it here, I just cut out the image with scissors, but I will be using those files! For now, I hope you've enjoyed this card--have a great day!

"New" SU Colors

Well, Stampin' Up! is getting rid of 29 colors! Out of 48. But they are bringing back some of the In Colors. Our club meets this Sunday, and I have to make cards for my fellow stamp club members. So I thought I would use some of the In Colors that have made it onto the new list. Here I've chosen Pink Pirouette, River Rock, and Soft Suede. I used the Very Vintage wheel in Soft Suede ink on the pink panel. On the River Rock panel I wheeled the Texture wheel, first in RR, and when that was just a little too subtle I followed up with just a hint of SS. Butterflies are made using the SU Embosslits die (how I love that thing!) I cut them out of PP and used direct-to-paper with SS ink to highlight the embossed portions. I stamped the label in SS on PP and added a little chalk to that and the butterfly on the vintage piece. Border is SU, ribbon is SS dotted grosgrain. I'm pleased with how this turned out. Hope you like it too!

My first try at Pick a Petal

Well, around Christmas time I discovered the Cricut and fell in LOVE! I thought it couldn't get any better, but then I found out about Sure Cuts A Lot, a program that lets you use your Cricut to cut files from your computer. Lauren from My Time Made Easy is a genius when it comes to templates and has made hers available in SVG, which is what SCAL uses for the Cricut. So now, I don't have to cut them out by hand! It is so amazing to watch your Cricut cutting out what's on your computer screen.

Well, of course I started with Pick a Petal, one of Lauren's latest releases. The template goes together very nicely, however, I still need a lot more practice with the lid! This is my second attempt.

Here is a pic of the lid. It is a little uneven (okay a lot uneven!), but I'm hoping that with more practice I'll get better at it. This box as is is very roomy, and you can resize it with SCAL to make it even bigger! The rose is from Lauren's Rambling Roses cut file. I sponged each piece with Lavender Lace ink and rolled each petal. Again, more practice needed here. She is going to make a video too! Box is Lavender Lace, top is Pale Plum (I think--I was using some old 12 x 12 to experiment with), ribbon is PTI Plum Pudding, lace is from Flourishes. Tag on front of box is the Sentimental Frame cut file from MTME.

Here is a close up of the rose. Hope you've enjoyed this project. Everyone should try out SCAL! Thanks for stopping by!

PTI Swap Sketch #2

As soon as I saw this sketch I knew which stamp set I had to use--Life! It is perfect for this sketch, which you can see HERE. I played around with various floral images for the Aqua Mist panel, but finally decided to put the word "Life" there instead. I also wasn't going to mat the little square of Green Tea DP, but I thought it needed something. Leaves are stamped in Ripe Avocado on SU Certainly Celery. "Life" is stamped in Ocean Tides on Aqua Mist. DP is mounted on Ripe Avo. Card base is Ocean Tides. Sent. is Palette Noir. Embellies are Dew Drops. I have to say, this is a great sketch, and it would work well for many of PTI's sets. Why not give it a try? Have a great day!

Easter Wishes

Morning all! This is my second regular card for the PTI swap. Easter is this weekend, so by the time my fellow swappers get it it won't be appropriate anymore, but they can either save it till next year or peel off the sentiment and add a different one I guess. This just felt like an Easter card to me. Stamp set is Floral Fenzy (sent. is Mega Mixed Messages) by PTI. I stamped the petals on Lemon Tart and embossed in white. Flower center is Summer Sun, sent., stem and leaf are Ripe Avocado. I wanted a very soft sweet feel so I added a panel of vellum over the focal image, tied with some of PTI's luscious satin ribbon. Border punch is SU, sent. is cut out with Nesties. DP is the old 12 x 12 Bitty Baby Blessings. Card base is (you guessed it!) Gina K heavy base weight white. Thanks for dropping by!