Tulle-Wrapped Kisses...

Valentine's Day will be here before you know it! I'm usually a procrastinator with most things, but I thought I'd get a head start on my Valentine's projects for today's Design Team Tips  at Papertrey Ink. I love "love". I love giving. LOVE this time of year! These would be great little gifts for neighbors, friends or your children's Valentine parties.

And the hard part about these? Not eating all of the caramel kisses before you are done creating! (The pink ones are chocolate with caramel in the middle...YUM!) Here's how to make them:

Step 1: Cut 2 pieces of tulle that are 12-14" long. (The tulle I found at the craft store came in a roll about 9" wide.) Lay them on the table so that they are perpendicular to each other (like a cross). Fill the center with Hershey Kisses. Grab all four ends of the tulle, bring to the center, and gather at the top. Tie a bow around it with seam binding or twine.

Step 2: Stamp several of the frames with the Four Square stamp set and cut them out. You can use a variety of colors. This way, if you are making 25 of these for your child's classmates, you won't get bored with just one color! Plus they look so cute when they are all together and so colorful. Stamp the centers of the frame with a sentiment from Heart Squared (or another "love" themed sentiment set.)

Step 3: Die cut a few arrows with the Cupid's Arrow die and kraft paper. Cut some little hearts out with the Cover Plate: Hearts die. One cut will give you a bunch of hearts! Stamp them with the Happy Hearts stamps. Wrap twine around the arrow, adhere a stamped heart and an enamel dot to each arrow, then adhere one arrow to each frame.

Step 4: Attach a frame to each tulle bag with a glue dot. (To get the crinkly look to the seam binding, just wet it slightly and squish it up. Or you can leave it smooth like the pink one shown below. You can also spray the seam binding with mists to change the color of the ribbon before you tie it on if you wish. Let dry before attaching.)

You are finished! Kick back and enjoy the "ooh's and aah's" you will get when these are handed out to friends and family!

Tulle Wrapped Kisses:

(All supplies by Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.)

STAMPS: Heart Squared, Four Square, Happy Hearts
INK: Hawaiian Shores, Raspberry Fizz, Summer Sunrise, True Black, 

and Harvest Gold by PTI, Soft Granite by Hero Arts

PAPER: white and Classic Kraft cardstock
DIES: Cover Plate: Hearts die, Cupid's Arrow die
OTHER: Hershey Kisses candy, tulle from craft supply, seam binding from Zipperstop, 

twine by Papertrey Ink, enamel dots by My Mind's Eye.

_________

Papertrey Ink's new releases for January...

Tonight at 10pm all of the new stamps and dies for January will be released at Papertrey Ink! We've been sharing a few things that are new, and today we get to show you the rest. This card was made with Wonderful Words: Friends stamps.

I stamped the big "friends" onto vellum, embossed and cut it out. Yes, I'm so addicted to the vellum look! I also used another one of the flowers from Doodie-Do on vellum and backed it with Harvest Gold patterned paper. The background of the card was just made with strips of washi tape.

Friends Make the World card:

STAMPS: Wonderful Words: Friends, Doodlie-Do

INK: Melon Berry, Harvest Gold, Versamark
PAPER: white, Harvest Gold Pattern Pack

DIES: none

OTHER: white embossing powder, seam binding, washi tape.

----------

Next is Boutique Borders: Friends. I also stamped the background of the tag in Background Basics: Diagonal Additions.

I created a petal card with patterned paper and tied seam binding around to hold it closed, then added a quick tag.

My Dear Friend Envelope and Tag:

STAMPS: Boutique Borders: Friends, Background Basics: Diagonal Addtions
INK: Harvest Gold, True Black by PTI, Soft Granite by Hero Arts
PAPER: Rustic Cream, patterned paper by Crate Paper's Bundled Up line
DIES: Tag Sale #9
OTHER: seam binding, button, twine.
----------

Last, but not least is Life's Music on the front of a little notebook.

I added "just a note" from Think Big Favorites #22.

 Just A Note Notebook
STAMPS: Life's Music, Think Big Favorites #22
INK: True Black
PAPER: white
DIES: none
OTHER: washi tape, chipboard stars by Studio Calico, seam binding by Zipperstop, 
glassine bag from Michael's.
----------

Guess I was in a polka dot mood when creating these. Ha. Want to see more? Visit the other Papertrey Ink team members, and don't forget all of these new items will be available for purchase tonight!

Ashley Cannon Newell
Betsy Veldman
Cristina Kowalczyk
Dawn McVey
Debbie Olson
Erin Lincoln
Heather Nichols
Laura Bassen
Melissa Phillips
Nichole Heady

Introducing Doodlie-Do...

(First of all, let me apologize for the construction on my blog - still working on creating a new look, so bear with me, not quite finished yet!) Today the Papertrey Ink girls are sharing projects made with a fun stamp set called Doodlie-Do. This brand new set will be available for purchase on Jan. 15th at 10pm EST at www.papertreyink.com.

What a pretty set, don't you think?

I used the flowers and leaf stamps on vellum, embossed with white embossing powder. The sentiment is from a new set called Words of Comfort. I like how the white on white is very soothing, perfect for a sympathy card. But also elegant, which would work great for a wedding or anniversary card as well!

After embossing the top portion of the vellum (left the bottom portion open for some white space), I cut a white cardstock base and dropped several Fresh Mint sequins by Pretty Pink Posh onto the paper. To get them to look more random, I simply dropped them on and adhered them where they landed! That's my little trick for sequins. Don't think about the placement too much, or it will drive you crazy. :)

Next, I layered the vellum paper over the sequin paper and machine-stitched them together at the top of the card.

Last, I adhered three little white sequins onto the front centers of the flowers.

May You Find Strength card:
STAMPS: Words of Comfort, Doodlie-Do
INK: Versamark
PAPER: white, vellum
DIES: none
OTHER: white embossing powder, sequins by PrettyPinkPosh.com, chipboard stars by Studio Calico.
----------

On my second card, I embossed onto colored cardstock and trimmed it out with my scissors. 

I did use some of the leftover vellum leaves from the first card. 

(I always practice my designs on another sheet of paper first, so I had some leaves leftover from the first project.)

Another sentiment from Words of Comfort was used on this card.

So Sorry card:
STAMPS: Words of Comfort, Doodlie-Do
INK: Versamark
PAPER: Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, Melon Berry, vellum
DIES: none
OTHER: white embossing powder, sequins by PrettyPinkPosh.com, resin flower by Kaisercraft Blossoms.

----------

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you enjoyed this post! 

Visit the rest of the PTI team to see more with Doodlie-Do. You can find this stamp set HERE.

Ashley Cannon Newell
Betsy Veldman
Cristina Kowalczyk
Dawn McVey
Erin Lincoln
Heather Nichols
Laura Bassen
Melissa Phillips
Nichole Heady

Introducing Feather Finery...

The Papertrey Ink team is back to share ideas with a new stamp set called Feather Finery. This set has the prettiest feathers I've ever seen! First, we were to choose an inspiration photo to inspire us. I chose this one that I found on Pinterest:

(source)

First, I created a simple card with similar colors, inspired by the oranges and pinks.

The feathers are 2-step, so the feather is stamped first and then the dots are stamped after. So fun!

Tickled Pink card:

STAMPS: Feather Finery

INK: Raspberry Fizz, True Black, Harvest Gold, Summer Sunrise
PAPER: white
DIES: none
OTHER: seam binding, chipboard stars by Studio Calico.

----------

Next, I wanted to step up the look to resemble the inspiration photo a little bit more, so I painted my feather stamp with ink refills to create that watercolor look. I used a drop of Raspberry Fizz, a drop of Sweet Blush, a drop of Summer Sunrise and a drop of Harvest Gold refill ink in my paint palette.

Using a paintbrush, I dipped the brush in a drop of Raspberry Fizz ink refill and painted the top of the feather, then Sweet Blush, Summer Sunrise and Harvest Gold - just randomly painted them all over the feather.

I flipped it over and stamped it onto my white cardstock at an angle.

Voila! And here is the finished product. Now you can't see all of the super fine detail of the feather with this technique, but still a cool one to try! Love the effect! It turns out different every time. Wouldn't a set of matching cards be really cute with all different sayings?

After they were dry, I used the dotty stamp over the top with Versamark Ink and heat embossed the dots with gold embossing powder. 

A sequin and a sentiment finishes the look. Sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh!

Just a note: the reinkers may stain your stamps, but I've found that fingernail polish remover works great to get some of it off. Keep a wipe handy to clean your stamps right away to prevent most staining.

Watercolor Feathers card set:

STAMPS: Feather Finery

INK: Raspberry Fizz, Harvest Gold, Summer Sunrise, Sweet Blush, True Black by PTI, Soft Granite by Hero Arts
PAPER: white
DIES: none
OTHER: sequins by Pretty Pink Posh, gold embossing powder by Ranger Industries.

----------

Feather Finery will be available for purchase on Jan. 15th at 10pm EST at Papertrey Ink. 

Visit the rest of the PTI team to see more samples made with this set!

Ashley Cannon Newell
Betsy Veldman
Cristina Kowalczyk
Dawn McVey
Erin Lincoln
Heather Nichols
Laura Bassen
Melissa Phillips
Nichole Heady

Polka Dot Parade #12 and Polka Dot Parade Alphabet...

Papertrey Ink is counting down to its new releases for January, and today is Day #1 of the sneak peeks! I am previewing a few new things for you, including the Polka Dot Parade #12 stamp set and Polka Dot Parade Alphabet stamp set. First up, I made a layout of my daughter Taylor's 14th birthday from this past November!

The Polka Dot Parade #12 stamp set includes candles and a few cute birthday sentiments. Here I used the candles as little dividers to my layout to add color. The frames were stamped with a new stamp set called Four Square. I wanted them to look like diamonds, so I placed them on the diagonal. The "happy" was made with the new alphabet set: Polka Dot Parade Alphabet. (There are dies to match also, but I didn't get them in time for my layout.) You can spell out anything you'd like with these! FUN!

I added some sweet flair badges by A Flair For Buttons! The centers of the frames are perfect for little embellishments!!

I love the shape of the Four Square stamps, because it's so easy to create a pattern with square photos interspersed with the stamped squares to create an eye-catching pattern.

This layout was originally inspired by the color palette in these MME enamel dots. :)

Happy Birthday layout:

STAMPS: Four Square, Polka Dot Parade #12, and Polka Dot Parade Alphabet
INK: Harvest Gold, Raspberry Fizz, Aqua Mist, Enchanted Evening, Hawaiian Shores, and True Black by Papertrey Ink; Soft Granite by Hero Arts
PAPER: white
DIES: Polka Dot Parade #12
OTHER: Chalkboard Valentine's Flair/February 14th Flair by A Flair for Buttons on Etsy.

______

This card is made with the new Polka Dot Parade #12 stamp set. Lots of cute birthday stuff in this one!

Using a Tag Sale #9 die, I die cut the center out.

I kept the tag that popped out of the card and stamped the candles and 2-step flames in Harvest Gold, Summer Sunrise and Sweet Blush inks. A sentiment from this set was stamped in Pure Poppy ink over the top.

The finished tag was placed on the inside of the card to peek through the opening, and matches the opening exactly! I love that trick. Never gets old!

A Birthday Wish for You card:
STAMPS: Polka Dot Parade #12
INK: Harvest Gold, Sweet Blush, Summer Sunrise, Pure Poppy
PAPER: white
DIES: Tag Sale #9 die
OTHER: Flair by A Flair For Buttons on Etsy, chipboard star by Studio Calico, seam binding from Zipperstop.com, MME Cut & Paste Enamel Dots.

______

Last, a card that combines Four Square with Polka Dot Parade #12 and Polka Dot Parade Alphabet.

I used the little candle stamp as kind of like "a piece of tape" to hold my frame onto the card! The background is vellum die cut with Cover Plate: Hearts over the top of white cardstock. Visit Nichole's blog for more information and links to see more sneaks. All of these awesome new products will be released on January 15th at 10pm EST at www.papertreyink.com.

Happy for You card:

STAMPS: Polka Dot Parade #12, Polka Dot Parade Alphabet, 
Four Square, Happy Hearts
INK: Enchanted Evening, Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, 
True Black by PTI, Soft Granite by Hero Arts
PAPER: white, vellum
DIES: Cover Plate: Hearts
OTHER: chipboard star by Studio Calico.
______