Make It Market: Party Pops...

The next Make It Market Kit for Papertrey Ink will be released on April 1st and it is entitled "Party Pops".  Betsy has once again outdone herself!  Party Pops is all about interactive birthday cards, tags, favors, gift wrap, decor and anything else you can dream up!  Just wait until you see these dies!  They provide several options for creating different types of interactive cards — pop-ups, lift-the-flap, and SO much more! These could potentially be THE most innovative products that Betsy has designed to date!  She has even invented some clever tools to turn colorful cupcake wrappers into works of art.  If there was ever a kit you didn't want to miss out on, it would be this one! Pop over to Nichole Heady's blog to watch all the videos on how these dies work.

Here are a few samples I created with the kit. Up first, I used the scalloped die as my card base with Aqua Mist cardstock. The white piece is cut from the liner die. Then instead of using the liner die on the INSIDE of the card like it was meant to be used, I used it on the outside of my card, so I could cut out the balloons from it and pop them up. I wanted to do a bit of colorful stamping on the front with the stamps in the kit. All of the pretty colors on the front of this card are stamped except the teal border on the bottom - cut from one of the patterned papers in the kit.

The balloons are cut with a die that doesn't cut the bottom, so you can pop them up and they are still intact on your card. The balloons were die cut out of the white piece before folding it in half and sliding it over the top of the card base. The banner is cut with Sweet Blush cardstock and stamped with Pure Poppy ink, then popped up with dimensional adhesive.

Next, I wanted to point out that there are some beautiful pre-made patterned papers in the kit! I've used them here as table decor. By using the dies, you can cut out portions of the pre-made papers and pop them up for decor for your birthday table! (Or fold on the dotted line and add them to the inside of a card.)


You can use the little cupcake holders from the kit as treat holders to place around the table like I did here. And notice the little die cut confetti? SO, so cute!

Here is one more card made with the scalloped die, and I used the cupcake die that doesn't cut at the top to partially cut out the cupcake to reveal a message underneath. "Lift here" is stamped in black on the flap.

The scalloped front was cut from white cardstock and added to a white background. I wanted the cupcake to be the focal point. Added a strip of paper to the top from the kit. (Twine is from my stash.) I stamped the birthday sentiment and cupcake.

When you life the flap on the front of the card, underneath the cupcake top is another celebrate stamp that I stamped on another piece of paper and added it underneath before adhering to the card front... "eat cake and celebrate".

Last I made just a simple, SUPER quick flower banner with the cupcake liners! There's a die that cuts the leaf shapes you see here behind the flowers. You fold the cupcake liners in half and place the die on top, run it through your cutting machine, and voila! You have an easy and quick floral banner for a party that's full of color!

The cupcake liners were layered on top of each other for more color. (I turned them inside out, because the colorful part is always on the outside of the liner.) In between the layers is a punched circle from white cardstock. That way the liners hold their true colors and don't blend in with the liners behind them.

Literally, this took minutes to make. You could hang little sayings or banners in between the flowers to personalize it for a party.

There is a limited number of these exclusive kits, so be sure to get yours on Wednesday! The "Party Pops" kit will be for sale beginning April 1st at 10pm EST only at Papertrey Ink. Read all the details for supplies included in the kit and cost at Nichole Heady's blog or contact customer service with any questions.

Well, I hope you can see how colorful and fun this kit is! This is just the tip of the iceberg! Stop over to the other Make It Market gals to see more: Nichole, Betsy, Melissa, Heather and our newest team member, Lea Lawson! Sending a big welcome to Lea!

On trend: sequins...

Sequins are HOT right now! They can add so much to a card!

Have you been looking for new ways to use sequins, or aren't sure what to do with all those sequins you have? I've written a blog post for Gossamer Blue today that explains why I love sequins, what they do for your design and different ways you can use them! Follow the link above for the story on sequins!

On this card, I've used the On Trend: Sequins from My Mind's Eye from the Gossamer Blue Bits & Pieces kit from March. They come in cute colors and shapes (triangles!), so I made little flowers out of them to add over this gorgeous floral Life Pages card.

Here are a couple of other cards made with sequins lately, in case you missed them, a sequin banner and gold foil heart with random sequins.

Swing over to the Gossamer Blue blog for a list of ways sequins add to your design and how you can use them creatively in your next design----> On Trend: Sequins!

new Make It Monday video tutorial...

Today it is my turn for a Make It Monday video tutorial at Papertrey Ink! One of the lessons I taught in my online Craftsy class is using patterned papers on cards: arranging them, how to choose certain papers, etc., so I thought it would be fun to give you a little sneak peek into that. In today's video, I'll show you my inspiration photo and how I will pull five colors from the photo to use in my paper designs, and then I'll show you how to make your own set of patterned papers that all coordinate with these colors and how to scale them appropriately. And finally, I'll show you a few ways to use those papers you just created and how to arrange them on a card!

When creating a set of stamped patterned papers or using pre-made papers on a card, you'll need to make sure you create at least one that is a large scale pattern, at least one medium scale pattern, and at least one small scale pattern. You can create/use more than that on your card, of course, but as long as you have one of each on your card, it will be very pleasing to the eye as far as the scale goes!

Here, the die cut flowers from Cutting Garden create the large scale on the card, the dots and stitches are medium scale (made with Polkadot Basics III and Chicken Scratch), and the plaid is more of a small scale (stamped with the line stamp in Note Niblets).

One more thing to think about is to create a stamped patterned paper that has ALL of the colors in it from your inspiration piece. Then when creating other papers to coordinate with this main paper, you'll pull colors from that main paper to use for the supporting papers.

There are really an unlimited number of ways you can use patterns on a card! You can place them horizontally, vertically, or horizontal AND vertical like I did on the "Thanks for all you do" card. Or you can use punches and dies to cut shapes out of them. If you'd like to play along, pop over to Nichole's blog to enter a card to win a $25 Papertrey Ink gift certificate! I can't wait to see what beautiful patterns you'll make!

Supplies:

(All supplies by Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.)

STAMPS: Chicken Scratch, Background Basics: Super Gingham, Cutting Garden, 
Note Niblets, Polkadot Basics III, Mat Stack 2, Mat Stack 4

INK: Sweet Blush, Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, Summer Sunrise, 
Orange Zest, New Leaf, True Black; Soft Granite by Hero Arts

PAPER: White cardstock

DIES: Cutting Garden

OTHER: sequins by Pretty Pink Posh, twine by The Twinery.

It's National Craft Month!

Happy Monday! I am here recovering from this whirlwind Papertrey Ink release and getting my craft room back to normal! :) Were you inspired to create something fun over the weekend?

I wanted to pop in and share a peek of Betsy's next Make It Market kit called Party Pops. Visit the link for more information. We will be sharing more projects made with it at the end of the month, and the kit will be available on April 1st. I've made some party decor for the table here, but this kit can be used for SO much more! Pop up birthday cards, fun cupcake flowers for gift toppers, banners and garlands...really so many possibilities with it!

Also, I wanted to share a great deal with you today over at Craftsy.com. All of their classes are 50% off this weekend, and today is the last day of the sale for National Craft Month! If you've been thinking about watching a class, you won't be disappointed. There are so many great things about Craftsy. The classes stay online forever, so you can watch them at your own pace, anytime. You can chat with instructors and ask questions, and you can post pics of your own projects in the class platforms! (And you can get a free app to watch them on your mobile devices.) If you are on the fence, you can check out their free mini classes to see what Craftsy is all about!

Well, I am off to spend the day with my husband today. The girls have 4 days of school this week, then they are off for 10 days for spring break! I can't believe it's March already! This year is flying by so fast. What's going on in your neck of the woods?

Petite Pots anniversary set...

(If you are looking for the Papertrey Ink release and the Gossamer Blue blog hop, scroll down or click the links!)

Papertrey Ink is excited to offer this year's gorgeous new anniversary set! Receive the limited edition Petite Pots stamp set with the redemption of 24 Customer Rewards Points before Feb. 15th, 2016 9:59pm EST. This is a limited edition set and will be only available for twelve months. If you have any questions about Customer Rewards and how you can start earning them today, check out the website HERE.

This card began with the new Sentiment Splits: Angle Horizontal die. I trimmed it out so that I had just the frame portion of it. The stamping is done on the card below, and then I added the white frame over the top and some yellow chevron washi tape below in between where the paper splits.

Two of the different stems were stamped several times (some crooked) to make the stems look more fun and random. Then the flowers were stamped in Aqua Mist and Harvest Gold inks, Summer Sunrise and Orange Zest, and Hibiscus Burst and Pure Poppy. I was inspired by THIS card by Tara and added the little yellow dots with a Y15 Copic marker. Love how they look like little bees!

Really love the dimension this one has, yet it's still pretty flat for mailing. You could leave off the pearls if you wanted to. Such a happy little stamp set!

Thanks a Bunch card:
STAMPS: Petite Pots
INK: New Leaf, Aqua Mist, Hibiscus Burst, Summer Sunrise,
Orange Zest, Pure Poppy, Harvest Gold
PAPER: white
DIES: Sentiment Splits: Angle Horizontal
OTHER: Y15 Copic marker, washi tape, pearls by Melissa Frances, Swiss Dot embossing folder by Cuttlebug.
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Visit the PTI team to see more with Petite Pots:
Nichole Heady

Amy Sheffer

Ashley Newell
Betsy Veldman

Dawn McVey
Heather  Nichols
Laura Bassen
Lauri Willison
Maile Belles
Melissa Phillips

Release day...

Good morning! It's the 15th! Today is release day at Papertrey Ink, and that means all of the new release stamps and dies we've been showing you are going to be available for purchase at 10pm EST tonight. I'll show you a few more things I've made.

Here I've used the new Retro Style Graduation stamps with the Block Alphabet die with several colors of cardstock to add a fun, colorful congrats sentiment!

Getting the alphas straight would have been more time consuming, so I opted to go with a fun random look this time. It's not as perfect as I wanted it to be, but it will do! It's handmade, right?

Some colorful scraps for your beautiful Sunday morning... :)

Congratulations Grad card:

(All supplies by Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.)

STAMPS: Retro Style Graduation

INK: True Black

PAPER: White cardstock

DIES: Block Alphabet die

OTHER: twine.

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Next is a little card set with Brushed Blooms, but I also added in Sentiment Splits (so happy for you) and Noted (chevrons) on the first one. 

The chevrons from Noted were stamped on the edge of the paper to create a stripe, then I popped up the top panel for dimension. (The flower is popped up also.)

The background was stamped with Brushed Blooms with Aqua Mist ink on watercolor paper, and then I used a paintbrush and water to smooth it out a bit and blend it. I love how it adds a "shadow effect" to the flower. A sentiment from Sentiment Splits finishes it off.

Happy For You card:

(All supplies by Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.)

STAMPS: Brushed Blooms, Sentiment Splits, Noted

INK: Aqua Mist, Summer Sunrise, Pure Poppy, Lavender Moon, Scarlet Jewel, Enchanted Evening, Hawaiian Shores, True Black by PTI; Soft Granite by Hero Arts

PAPER: watercolor paper, white cardstock

DIES: Brushed Blooms

OTHER: twine.

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This one has the same flower and colors, but I trimmed the flower in half. Half of the flower was added to the top of the oval frame and half to the bottom. The frame, birthday sentiment and stripes were made with You've Been Framed: Oval stamps and dies.

Do you like the background? I did some "smooshing" with a gray watercolor paint onto Linen Cardstock with very little water. I added the watercolor paint to a stamping block and flattened it onto my card, and then when I dragged the stamping block across the Linen cardstock, I achieved this pretty cross hatch effect!

Happy Birthday card:

(All supplies by Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.)

STAMPS: Brushed Blooms, You've Been Framed: Oval

INK: Aqua Mist, Summer Sunrise, Pure Poppy, Lavender Moon, Scarlet Jewel, Enchanted Evening, Hawaiian Shores, True Black

PAPER: Fine Linen cardstock by PTI; other - gray cardstock from craft supply

DIES: Brushed Blooms, You've Been Framed: Oval

OTHER: watercolor paints.

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This one is stamped with Retro Style Birthday Sentiments, and I used one of the Watercolor Wonder patterned papers. It is cut with the new Sentiment Splits: Angle Vertical die.

You can't see it all that well in the photo, but the paper is trimmed at an angle and popped up off the card, and I stamped "cake" inside underneath in the opening with Melon Berry ink. I thought the gold twine would be pretty with these colors.

There's Always Room For Cake card:

(All supplies by Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.)

STAMPS: Retro Style Birthday Sentiments

INK: Melon Berry, True Black

PAPER: white cardstock, Watercolor Wonder Patterned Paper Pack

DIES: Sentiment Splits: Angle Vertical

OTHER: gold twine - The Twinery, sequins- Pretty Pink Posh.

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This grad card was made with a Gold Luxe Foil paper. I used an exacto knife to trim around the inside frame a bit, then tucked in a Enclosed: Graduation die (hat). The tassel was trimmed out of the Luxe Gold Adhesive Sheets and popped up a bit for dimension.

On the front, I used Keep It Simple: Graduation and Enclosed: Graduate stamps. On the inside, I used Tucked In: Congratulations.

Happy Graduation card:

(All supplies by Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.)

STAMPS: Keep It Simple: Graduation, Enclosed: Graduate, 

Tucked In: Congratulations (on inside)

INK: True Black

PAPER: True Black and Linen cardstock, Luxe Gold Adhesive Sheets, Gold Luxe Foil Patterned Paper Collection (dot)

DIES: Enclosed: Graduate dies

OTHER: none.

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That's it for me! All of these new products will be available on March 15 at 10pm EST. Visit the team to see more ideas:

Nichole Heady

Amy Sheffer

Ashley Newell
Betsy Veldman
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Laura Bassen
Lauri Willison
Maile Belles
Melissa Phillips

Gossamer Blue blog hop...

Welcome to the Gossamer Blue blog hop, where we show you some more projects made with the March kits! You may be just receiving your kits and are looking for inspiration to help you get started. We've got a lot of that for you today. :)

Here is a card that I put together with the March Bits & Pieces kit. I used the Pink Paislee - Bella Rouge 6x6" paper pad for all of the papers here, even the sentiment is trimmed from one of the papers.

The oval was cut with Papertrey Ink's Limitless Layers 3.5" Oval dies, then is machine stitched to give it a little border. Really love the big sequins in the Bits & Pieces kit too, and I've written up a blog post all about sequins that will be posted on the Gossamer Blue blog later this month!

The bottom scallop was cut with Papertrey Ink's Edgers #3 die. If you missed the other cards I made with the March kits, you can visit my earlier blog post here. :) Now hop on to the rest of the GB girls' blogs!

Anabelle O'Malley 

Beshka Kueser 

Brenda Weaver 

Caylee Grey 

Cindy Liebel 

Danielle Flanders (you are here)

Diane Payne 

Emily Spahn 

Erin Taylor 

Eunyoung Lee 

Heather 

Leopard 

Jessica Lohof 

Jill Keller 

Joy Taylor 

Katie Ehmann 

Laura Crosby 

Mel Blackburn 

Rebecca Luminarias 

Sabrina Alery 

Tara Anderson 

Yana Smakula

Introducing Make It Market Mini Kit: Clipsters...

Today we are introducing a new mini kit for Papertrey Ink called Clipsters. It has everything you need in it to make some adorable little clips for all of your projects! You can use the premade ones, or stamp and customize your own! The Clipsters mini kit will be available at PTI on March 15th at 10pm EST.

First, I used the new Sentiment Splits: Curve Vertical die to cut out the kit papers. I wanted a little top portion to "hang" the clips.

"You're Amazing" was stamped in the open space several times, and the pre-made banners were just die cut with the Clipsters dies and added to my card with the adorable paper clips in the kit! I didn't actually "clip" them on, I just used some foam tape to pop them up slightly. "Oh Yeah" was cut out and stamped with Clipsters also.

Oh Yeah! card:

(All supplies by Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.)

STAMPS: Make It Market Mini Kit: Clipsters

INK: True Black, Sweet Blush

PAPER: Make It Market Mini Kit: Clipsters, white cardstock

DIES: Make It Market Mini Kit: Clipsters

OTHER: paper clips - Make It Market Mini Kit: Clipsters.

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Next, I chose a banner shape and a paper I liked from the Clipsters mini kit and went from there with my design.

The butterflies were heat embossed onto a piece of Sheer Basics Vellum using the Clipsters stamp set. 

Last, I really felt like the card needed one more larger item to balance out the scale of the big card with the smaller butterflies, so I die cut a Beautiful Butterfly with white cardstock and another from vellum and layered them. Black stitching was added for more contrast.

You're Amazing Butterfly card:

(All supplies by Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.)

STAMPS: Make It Market Mini Kit: Clipsters

INK: Versamark - craft supply, True Black, Sweet Blush

PAPER: Make It Market Mini Kit: Clipsters, white cardstock, vellum

DIES: Make It Market Mini Kit: Clipsters

OTHER: white embossing powder, paper clip - Make It Market Mini Kit: Clipsters, pearls - Melissa Frances, seam binding - Zipperstop, machine stitching.

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The Clipsters mini kit will be available on March 15th at 10pm EST. Thanks for stopping by! Visit the the PTI team to see more with these new products:

Amy Sheffer

Ashley Cannon Newell
Betsy Veldman
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Laura Bassen
Lauri Willison
Maile Belles
Melissa Phillips
Nichole Heady

Introducing Petite Places: Sweet Shoppe...

Today we are back to introduce another fun concept by Betsy Veldman, this one is called Sweet Shoppe and comes with a die and stamps to make this cute little candy shop! I've added it into a Clear Dome and used it as a package topper for some spring jellybeans in a Clear Card Box.

Isn't that little bike adorable? Oh my. And the awnings? Love them. I just realized when editing my photos that I stamped them wrong, I think they are supposed to line up differently. Oh, well...it looks ok, right? I don't think the recipient will notice. 

Tip: Be sure to tape the ends of the clear card box closed, so the flap doesn't open on accident and cause all your jelly beans to fall out. :)

Enjoy Jellybean gift box and topper:
(All supplies by Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.)
STAMPS: Sweet Shoppe, Sweet Shoppe Sentiments
INK: Hibiscus Burst, Pure Poppy, Tropical Teal, True Black
PAPER: Harvest Gold pattern pack, white cardstock
DIES: Sweet Shoppe dies, Tinsel & Tags backer
OTHER: clear card box, gray ribbon- Morex, jellybeans.
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Next is a quick card with Sweet Shoppe Sentiments stamps. I also used the leaf and round dot from the new stamp set called You've Been Framed: Oval. I wanted something to resemble little candies, and this dot from You've Been Framed: Oval reminded me of little gum balls to add around the perimeter of my card!

Added some leafy sprigs to the sign holder also...you know how sometimes you see vines growing up on a post? I tried to replicate that look. The seam binding hides where the post would be attached to something. Added lots of fun colors like you would see in a candy shop!

Something Sweet For You card:

(All supplies by Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.)

STAMPS: Sweet Shoppe Sentiments, You've Been Framed: Oval

INK: Pure Poppy, Hibiscus Burst, Sweet Blush, Summer Sunrise, Harvest Gold, Tropical Teal, Aqua Mist, New Leaf, True Black

PAPER: white, Aqua Mist, Tropical Teal pattern pack

DIES: none

OTHER: seam binding - Zipperstop, sequin - Pretty Pink Posh, enamel dots - MME.

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Visit the the PTI team to see more with these new products! Everything new you see here will be available on March. 15 at 10pm EST. Thanks for stopping by!

Amy Sheffer

Ashley Cannon Newell
Betsy Veldman
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Laura Bassen
Lauri Willison
Maile Belles
Melissa Phillips
Nichole Heady

Introducing Chicken Scratch...

Today the Papertrey Ink team is previewing a new set of stamps and dies coming out on March 15th at 10pm EST called Chicken Scratch! I've only just "scratched" the surface of this set...it's one of those that can be used for SO many different looks. Can't wait to see what the other girls did with the same products. I'll link to their blogs at the end of the post. :)

First, we were to choose an inspiration piece. If you go to Pinterest and look up Chicken Scratch, you'll find all kinds of fun stitches and inspiration pieces. I decided to go with this one. I liked the stitching over top of the yellow gingham and used that as my starting point. 

The first one I made was the butterfly card.

The new Cover Plate: Chicken Scratch die was used in the background. I stamped on it with Chicken Scratch stamps with Harvest Gold and Sweet Blush inks, then stitched over the top with white floss for a fun dimensional look using the holes in the cover plate as my stitching guide. I used a Life Is Beautiful butterfly die and stamped some stitches on it.

Good Intentions card:

(All supplies by Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.)

STAMPS: Chicken Scratch

INK: Sweet Blush, Pure Poppy, True Black, Harvest Gold, Summer Sunrise by PTI; gray is Soft Granite by Hero Arts

PAPER: Linen Cardstock

DIES: Cover Plate: Chicken Scratch, Life Is Beautiful

OTHER: Seam binding - Zipperstop , enamel dots - My Mind's Eye.

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Next, I used the new Background Basics: Super Gingham stamp set to create strips of different colors of gingham. I stamped the lighter gingham colors first, then stamped darker "stitches" over the top with Chicken Scratch.

"Love" is stamped from Festival of Lights. I used a new die over the top called You've Been Framed: Oval and flowers/ leaves from The Sweet Life for a pretty focal point in the center. This card could be given for almost any occasion!

Stitched Together With Love card:

(All supplies by Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.)

STAMPS: Background Basics: Super Gingham, Chicken Scratch, The Sweet Life, Festival of Lights

INK: Hibiscus Burst, Pure Poppy, Harvest Gold, Summer Sunrise, Spring Moss, Simply Chartreuse, Ripe Avocado, True Black

PAPER: Linen Cardstock, Aqua Mist, Sweet Blush

DIES: You've Been Framed: Oval, The Sweet Life

OTHER: sequin by Pretty Pink Posh.

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What do you think of Chicken Scratch? All of the new products you see here today will be available on March 15th at 10pm EST. Thanks for stopping by! For more inspiration, visit the rest of the team:

Amy Sheffer

Ashley Cannon Newell
Betsy Veldman
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Laura Bassen
Lauri Willison
Maile Belles
Melissa Phillips
Nichole Heady