Friday, December 28, 2012

Studio Calico Block Party kits...

Have you been over to the Studio Calico kit club today? All of the January kits are up for sale and the reveal of the new creative team galleries are up! Thought I'd pop in and share some things I made with the kits.
This one is made with the add-on #2 Wildberry Court. I inked up the Pink Paislee hearts with stamping ink and the embossed design shows through. These chip hearts are SO cute, left plain or colored! They are from Pink Paislee's Artisan line.

Here I wanted to add a bunch of the fun patterns in the main Block Party Card Kit, so I cut strips and angled them for a quick card with a lot of fun impact. :) Papers are in the 6x6 paper pad.


This little card set was stamped with the main Block Party Card Kit stamps to create the backgrounds here. Loving gray lately! Such a nice neutral with any combo of colors!


This is a little pocket that comes in the main Block Party Card Kit and it already has the "hello" printed on the front and the red pattern inside the pocket, so I wanted to add some weight to the left side of the card to balance out the heaviness from the right side. I added some stickers from the add-on #4 Woodbrooke Road kit and punched hearts.
The red woodgrain heart is actually washi tape from the main card kit. I added it to white cardstock and then punched a heart from it. These are popped up with dimensional adhesive. I added a pocket within the pocket to add color! The orange pocket is from the Woodbrooke Road kit.
Another pocket here from Woodbrooke Road. Used a piece of vellum to write my thank you note and tuck inside the pocket, because I didn't want to cover up the pretty stripes. This card is a combo of the main card kit and the two add-ons I received, Woodbrooke Road and Wildberry Court.
Layered a 2" circle punched from patterned paper and some stickers for more interest on the front of this pocket.

Next up is a card that I used some "printables" on. These are the Digital Printables #2 (includes the yeah card and the gray notebook paper). Tape and background paper is from Woodbrooke Road, heart, arrow and dots are from Wildberry Court. (It turned out a bit different from my sneak, the reason is totally my fault...I had used the wrong cardstock and ribbon on this one and had to do it over. Turns out those products were from last month's card kit, and I didn't notice until after I had posted the sneak! So I had to do a little revamping! lol)

Last, but not least, a card made with Wildberry Court. I cut around the arrow paper to create a big arrow to house the hearts. 

Stop over to my gallery and be sure to see what the rest of the card kit team has made with the kits too. :)

Monday, December 24, 2012

a few more sneaks...

Just wanted to pop in quickly! I have a few more sneaks to share with you of the upcoming January Card Kit and add-ons from Studio Calico! The kits will be released in just a few days. These first sneak is made with the Main Card Kit only called Block Party. Loved the patterns in the papers!!

The "thank you set" was made with the Main Card Kit only also - used one of the stamps to create some fun backgrounds.

This one is a mix of the main card kit, add-on #2 Wildberry Court and add-on #4 Westbrook Road. LOVE that tape -- eeeeek! Going to be using it on everything!

This one is made mostly with the Main Card Kit with the exception of the black stickers and orange stripe pocket from add-on #4.


Have a VERY Merry Christmas, everyone!!



candy cane place card holders...

If you haven't been over to the Pink Paislee blog this month, you will want to head on over for lots of fun and giveaways! We are holding our annual Countdown to Christmas event with a new project every day. I saw a cute little place holder idea on Pinterest that I had to try out with the gorgeous City Sidewalks line. These are made with full size candy canes, but you could make smaller versions with the mini candy canes also.

To make the candy cane stands, you'll want to hot glue the first two together in the front first. Then a third one is hot glued in the back as a "leg" to keep the stand up. You can then add some tinsel to hide the hot glue a little bit and a chipboard snowflake from the City Sidewalks line.

Now you can dress these up any way you wish. You can add photos of your family for a decor project, or little place cards for each dinner guest in the holders! Mini candy canes can be used as well if you want to try a smaller version. To the “Merry Christmas” place holder, I added some City Sidewalks Parcels Tags. I cut a large snowflake out of the blue snowflake paper called Special Delivery and placed it behind the tags, added another chipboard snowflake and a City Sidewalks Ephemera piece that looks like a peppermint candy.

On the second place card holder, I used more of the Parcel Tags and Chipboard Snowflakes and inserted a photo instead of a sentiment.

Visit the Pink Paislee blog to leave a comment to be entered to win all this month!



Tuesday, December 18, 2012

holiday wishes...

Can you believe Christmas is almost here? Are you ready...gifts bought? Cards mailed? Presents wrapped, baking done? I am almost there, still have a couple things left to buy and mail. Getting there slowly, yet surely....


My mom and the girls put the tree up when she was here visiting over Thanksgiving break, so it's been Christmas-ey in here for awhile. Love the twinkling mantle lights on a quiet evening after everyone has gone to bed. So peaceful and beautiful.
Thought I'd share with you what I did for my holiday card and envelopes this year. I literally just came up with this yesterday. Yes, I am "super procrastinator!"

I made the 5x7" photo card myself and printed them out at home. I am not fond of the prices charged for 5x7's online. I just can't see paying $77 for photo cards. So...with 5x7" photo paper in hand, Photoshop, a few envelopes from my stash and some stamps, I have an inexpensive alternative. You can add a punched red circle to finish it off if you'd like...or leave without to add the recipient's mailing address.

I used Papertrey Ink's Mistletoe & Holly stamp set for the leaves and berries, "holiday wishes" is from Think Big Favorites #9, and "from our family to yours" is from Think Big Favorites #21. Twine is from The Twinery and the black tape is from Target. I love that this was so easy and packs a punch!



Saturday, December 15, 2012

release day...

Today is release day at Papertrey Ink! All of the fun products we have been sharing the past few days will be available tonight at 10pm EST!

Here are Sending My Love (black sentiment) and Think Big Favorites #23. I used Background Basics: Chevron to stamp the chevron stripes with Sweet Blush ink.

Always Known It Was You card:
STAMPS: Think Big Favorites #23, Sending My Love, Background Basics: Chevron
INK:  Sweet Blush, Pure Poppy, True Black, Hawaiian Shores
PAPER: Aqua Mist cardstock, white
DIES: none
OTHER: pearl.

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I used the new Sending My Love set on the next card too, couldn't resist! I made my own background with reinkers (INK REFILLS that you would reink your stamping pad with), using Spring Moss, Lavender Moon, Harvest Gold and Aqua Mist.
To make the little painted circles, I used a paintbrush, one drop of reinker and some water...and just painted the color on in a swirly motion. Start off dipping your brush in a lot of water and a use just a tiny bit of reinker, and you can always go darker. You cannot go lighter! :) Once you add the reinker, it's a done deal and dries almost instantly. :) I made my own tab with a strip of cardstock and used a corner rounder to round the top edges of the tab. EASY, and FUN! Must try it with other colors too!

Moments card:
STAMPS: Sending My Love
INK: Spring Moss, Lavender Moon, Harvest Gold and Aqua Mist, True Black
PAPER: Hawaiian Shores, Aqua Mist, white

DIES: Heart-2-Heart #11
OTHER: pearl.

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This is the new Quilled Elegance stamp set. This set of cards are stamped and embossed in white and then I painted in with reinkers again, since I don't have any Copic markers. You can achieve a very similar look to Copics this way.




Thank You Kindly card:
STAMPS: Quilled Elegance
INK:  Fresh Snow, True Black
PAPER: Spring Moss, Lavender Moon, Aqua Mist
DIES: none
OTHER: corner rounder, white embossing powder, Papertrey Ink ink refills in Spring Moss, Lavender Moon, Hawaiian Shores.

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I really messed up on this one, but I thought I would share it anyway, just in case someone would want to use the idea. I stamped chevrons in different colors ranging from lights to darks, and a Sending My Love sentiment again in between. The heart is from Think Big Favorites #23.

Colorful Chevron card:
STAMPS: Background Basics: Chevron, Think Big Favorites #23, Sending My Love

INK: Sweet Blush, Pure Poppy, Lavender Moon, True Black, Plum Pudding
PAPER: Lavender Moon, white cardstock
DIES: none
OTHER: none.

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This one uses the new Framed Out #11 stamp set and dies. The sentiment is from Ribbons & Bows.

I cut the big hearts out with the die and stamped them before addding them over the top of the smaller stamped hearts. I used the Background Basics: Newsprint to add around the edges.

Congratulations card:
STAMPS: Framed Out #11, Ribbons & Bows, Background Basics: Newsprint

INK: Sweet Blush, Pure Poppy, True Black, Soft Stone
PAPER: white and black cardstock, Secret Crush by Pink Paislee (dot)
DIES: Framed Out #11
OTHER: Recollections flower by Michael's.

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The sentiment on this card was stamped with a new stamp set called Just a Kiss, also used a new border die: XOXO Border.

To get the different colors in the XO, I cut strips of colorful cardstock and adhered them to a thin piece of printer paper. Then added the die over the top of the strips and ran it through the Cuttlebug to cut it out. You'll need a thin piece of paper to adhere all of the strips to. If you use thick cardstock under the colored pieces, the stack will be too thick to cut and won't cut all the way through!

XOXO card:
STAMPS: Just a Kiss
INK: Fresh Snow
PAPER: Pure Poppy, Raspberry Fizz, Hibiscus Burst, Summer Sunrise, Spring Moss, Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, Lavender Moon, Smokey Shadow and white cardstock - all by Papertrey Ink. Light gray cardstock from my stash (unknown)
DIES: XOXO Border die, Wonderful Words Die Collection, Heart-2-Heart #11
OTHER: twine, white embossing powder.

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This last one was a little more difficult for me, but I decided to go with more of a manly color scheme. This stamp set is called Love Potion!
I figured with chemistry and experiments, you also have notebook paper to jot down your notes from the lab experiment. Made my own "notebook" edges with a hole punch, made my own tab, and added to the office feel with a silver brad.

Great Chemistry card:
STAMPS: Love Potion
INK: Summer Sunrise, Limeade Ice, Hawaiian Shores, True Black, Fresh Snow
PAPER: Smokey Shadow Pattern Pack, Summer Sunrise cardstock, Aqua Mist cardstock, office paper - Secret Crush by Pink Paislee
DIES: none

OTHER: brad, hole punch.
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The other team members have lots to show you also, stop by and leave them some love if you can!

Ashley Cannon Newell 
Nichole Heady



Friday, December 14, 2012

With All My Heart...

Today is the second of the group posts by the Papertrey Ink team, and we are featuring the new stamp set called With All My Heart. Such a beautiful stamp set!
My first project is a gift wrap made the new With All My Heart stamps and the new Limitless Layers 2.5" Hearts dies. To make the gift wrap, I used 2 pieces of Soft Stone patterned paper and stitched them together on 3 sides, inserted a gift and stitched up the last side. I used inexpensive crepe paper from the party supply store (in a color similar to Sweet Blush!) to wrap around. To make it ruffly, I fed it through my sewing machine, folding as I went, not being particular as to how even the folds were! I made it long enough to wrap all the way around and tie.

Love these big hearts. They'd make a great Valentine banner to hang on the wall also since they are 2.5" each. Behind the stamped hearts are journaling cards made by Pink Paislee from their new Secret Crush line. I trimmed the bottoms of them to make them look like little banners on my package.


Be Mine Gift Wrap:
STAMPS: With All My Heart
INK: Pure Poppy, True Black, Sweet Blush
PAPER: Soft Stone Pattern Pack
DIES: Limitless Layers: 2.5" Hearts dies

OTHER: clear embossing powder, crepe paper, button, pin, journaling cards - Secret Crush by Pink Paislee.
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On this card, I used one of the Limitless Layers: 2.5" Hearts dies to trim out the heart in the polkadot paper. Then the polkadot paper with the negative heart is popped up with dimensional adhesive. I placed the stamped image below (from With All My Heart).


With All My Heart card:
STAMPS: With All My Heart
INK: Raspberry Fizz, Sweet Blush, Limeade Ice, True Black
PAPER: Secret Crush by Pink Paislee
DIES: Limitless Layers: 2.5" Hearts dies
OTHER: Embroidery floss, die cut arrow - Secret Crush by Pink Paislee.

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These new stamp sets and dies will be available on the 15th at PapertreyInk.com. Visit the rest of the team to see more!

Ashley Cannon Newell 
Nichole Heady



Thursday, December 13, 2012

Studio Calico has a new team!

One of my favorite kit clubs has some big, big news they want to share. The Studio Calico design team has grown, and I'm honored to be asked to join their new card kit team! As if my life could not get any busier. lol But how could I say no to a great opportunity? Just the card kit team alone will comprise of 16 people. 16! Oh, the card making ideas that will be posted - all in one spot! There will be a large scrapbooking team and a project life team as well. HERE are the new teams!
Speaking of cards, I have a few little Studio Calico sneakies to share with you so far.

These were all made with the Add-on kit 2. I haven't dug into the main kit yet. But I promise, I will try to back away from the hearts! Couldn't resist these Pink Paislee chip cuties and had to ink them up and use them on everything. The "Yeah" card features some awesome new printables for the month...


Love this arrow paper, was easy to cut right along the arrows to create different shapes.

OK, there you have it! I'll be back in the morning with another Papertrey Ink countdown post! G'night!