Design Team Tips: Black, White, Gold, and Stormy Sea...

Hello! Lately I've been noticing a trend in black and white backgrounds! I decided to create some stamped backgrounds, combine them with a touch of gold, and add a bit of Stormy Sea cardstock as well. These are so fast to make, and using a black and white combo really takes the guess work out of creating a color palette! Easy peasy!

Both of these cards were stamped with Bold Blossoms stamps in the background. On this card, I used the Enclosed: Leaf die to cut two items: one (outline) from the Luxe Gold Adhesive paper and one solid piece for the background from Stormy Sea cardstock. I placed the gold paper over the top.
The vellum butterfly is cut out of the Sheer Basics Vellum with the Cover Plate: Bitty Butterflies die.  The saying was stamped with Bitty Butterflies.

The Love card also uses the Bold Blossoms stamps in the background of the card with the Framed Love die cut from the Luxe Gold Adhesive paper again, like the first card. The sentiment is stamped again with Bitty Butterflies stamps (link above).

Gold, gray, black and white really makes for an elegant color palette, with not much thinking involved when it comes to choosing colors that go well together. I hope you'll give this color combo a try! Have a great weekend!

Creative Cardmaker: Drawing Inspiration from Scrapbooking Layouts...

Good morning! This week has FLOWN by, hasn't it? I can't believe it's almost the weekend again. Last weekend I had the chance to attend an amazing summit for Craftsy Instructors in Denver, CO! I really want the chance to tell you more about it, so I'll have to plan to write a little blog post about a few things I took away from it. It was so inspiring to be in the same room with hundreds of creative, like-minded people!! You can see a few pics from the 2016 Crafty Instructor Summit HERE on my Facebook page or HERE on my Instagram page.

Until then, I have a new card to share with you that I made for the Weekly Scrapper blog over at Scrapbook Expo. Sometimes I have a hard time figuring out where to get inspiration...especially when life takes over and seems to get in the way of creative time. Ever feel that way?

One of the biggest things that inspire me are scrapbooking layouts! I used to scrapbook before I was a card maker, so I always seem to find inspiration and creativity in scrapbooking...whether it's a color palette, or a cool technique, or an overall design, or even just a little section of layering that looks amazing! There are so many ways scrapbooking layouts can give you ideas for your cards!

Pop over to the Scrapbook Expo blog to read more about what inspired this card - which layout I loved and how I drew inspiration from it - and to get more info on the supplies I used. Thank you for swinging by and saying hello! I hope you're having a great week!!! Happy creating!

Watercolor pencils: a video tutorial...

Happy Wednesday! Will you get any crafting time in today? Perhaps some watercoloring? If so, hop over to Scrapbook Expo's Weekly Scrapper blog to watch a new video tutorial I filmed yesterday using the new Bold Blossoms Watercolor Sheets by Papertrey Ink and watercolor pencils. You can view the video HERE.

There is also a Bold Blossoms stamp set and some Bold Blossom coloring sheets available at Papertrey Ink, if you are more of a stamper or prefer to color with Copics and other coloring mediums. I hope you enjoy seeing the process with the watercolor pencils, and let me know if you have any questions! Have a great day!

New! Moments Inked: Binder Page Dies...

Today I want to share with you a new binder system by Papertrey Ink called Moments Inked. I have the Stone Gray binder, but it comes in many other pretty colors: Ebony, White and Natural Tan! This binder is such great quality with reinforced metal corners, a pen loop, interior pocket, 6-ring binder hardware and a back slit for a notepad! I just love it!

They also have a new die coming out tonight at 10pm EST called Moments Ink: Binder Page die. It cuts 3 sizes of pages for you to create your own pages! Below is the largest page that I cut and stamped. Just a fun page for notes and things! "Enjoy life" is stamped with Think Big Favorites #17 and the "hello" is die cut with the Swoosh dies. The butterfly is die cut with Beautiful Butterflies.

Here are the two smaller pages...

"It's your day" and "thank you" are stamped with Think Big Favorites #2. I made a small page to jot down birthdays for January I will need to send cards out for and a "thank you" page with the medium die. I still need to send thank you's for our holiday gifts! This one is stamped with the Journal Accessories stamp set. I used the dots that popped out of the die as polka dots!

It was such fun incorporating my stamps and dies into the binder system, I think I'll be playing around with it more! I'm hooked!

 Visit Nichole Heady's blog to see more about the newest Moments Ink binder and new dies!

Moments Ink Binder Pages:

STAMPS: Think Big Favorites #2, Think Big Favorites #17, 

Journal Accessories, Bitty Bouquets

INK: Pure Poppy, Aqua Mist, Raspberry Fizz, Orange Zest, New Leaf; 

Soft Granite by Hero Arts

PAPER: Raspberry Fizz, Mint Julep, White, Orange Zest, watercolor paper (hello)

DIES: Moments Ink: Binder Page dies, Bitty Bouquets, Swoosh

OTHER: enamel dot, sequins by Pretty Pink Posh, watercolor paints.

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Release day...

Today is the fun day when all of the new products for January are released at Papertrey Ink! Everything new that I've been showing you the past few days will be available for purchase tonight at 10pm EST at PapertreyInk.com. I have 2 more cards to share with you. First is another card with a new set of products called Bold Blossoms.

The background is a Bold Blossoms Watercolor Sheet paper. I loved the black and white and wanted to leave the black and white alone and just add a pop of color over the top with the Bold Blossoms stamps and dies!

Celebrate card:

STAMPS: Bold Blossoms

INK: Soft Granite by Hero Arts; Aqua Mist, Tropical Teal, Mint Julep, New Leaf by PTI

PAPER: Bold Blossoms Watercolor Sheets, white cardstock

DIES: Bold Bossoms

OTHER: sequins by Pretty Pink Posh.

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And just in case you didn't notice, I guess I was in an aqua/green mood today! Last is a quick card stamped with Go For the Goal in the background.

Thanks, Coach was used to create the sentiment and Outlined stamps and dies to make the frame.

Coach card:

STAMPS: Thanks, Coach, Go for the Goal, Outlined

INK: New Leaf, Tropical Teal, True Black

PAPER: white, Aqua Mist

DIES: Outlined dies and Thanks, Coach dies

OTHER: enamel dot.

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Don't forget to shop tonight at 10pm EST at Papertrey Ink to get all of the new products we have been previewing this week! Stop by each of these blogs to see more:

Amy Sheffer
Ashley Cannon Newell
Betsy Veldman
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Kay Miller
Laurie Willison
Lizzie Jones
Melissa Phillips
Nichole Heady

Introducing Coin Purse II...

There is a new stitching die in town (well, soon to be in town!) called the Coin Purse II die! You can see more about this die on Nichole Heady's blog, as you'll definitely want to see all of the different ideas/things you can make with it! I've chosen to cut mine out of fabric and cinch it shut to form this drawstring bag.

To cut it from fabric, you'll need to first iron Heat-N-Bond to the back of the fabric to stabilize the fabric for die cutting. You can see Erin's video on the assembly for this bag at Nichole's blog HERE. The bag would be cute as a baby shower favor or wedding favors! To make mine more cinched, I created the bag as the video suggested, then when inserting the ribbon, I just pulled mine tighter to create the ruffled look to the top of the bag.

Drawstring Bag:
STAMPS: none
INK: none
PAPER: none
DIES: Coin Purse II dies, Cover Plate: Bitty Butterflies
OTHER: fabric from Hobby Lobby, Heat-N-Bond, white floss, ribbon - Aqua Mist, enamel dot.
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The card to go with it was made with the new Bitty Butterflies dies and stamps and the new Enclosed: Butterfly dies and stamps.

Just like this card, I used vellum and stamped/embossed the wings, then added the teal layer over the top.

Blessed card:
STAMPS: Enclosed: Butterfly
INK: Aqua Mist
PAPER: Mint Julep cardstock, patterned paper - Farmhouse by Crate Paper, vellum
DIES: Cover Plate: Bitty Butterflies, Enclosed: Butterfly
OTHER: enamel dot, white embossing powder.
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All of the new products you see here today will be available at Papertrey Ink on the 15th at 10pm EST! Thank you for stopping by! Visit the rest of the team to see more coin purse inspiration today:

Amy Sheffer
Ashley Cannon Newell
Betsy Veldman
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Kay Miller
Laurie Willison
Lizzie Jones
Melissa Phillips
Nichole Heady

Introducing Petite Places: Home & Garden...

Welcome back to another Papertrey Ink countdown post! Today we are previewing the last Petite Places products coming out this month! My first assignment was to use the house from Petite Places: Home & Garden on a 3D project, so I built this little clear dome to put on top of a jar of Valentine candy corn.

The house is die cut with Petite Places: Home & Garden dies and stamped with the coordinating stamp set, along with the arbor, fence, sentiment and tree. I added some German & Mica Flitter as grass inside the clear dome.

Candy corn was found at Target! I would have filled it a lot fuller for the photo, however my family got ahold of the candy corn before I did my project! The jar is from Michaels. Isn't that arbor adorable? OH MY! I cut two fence pieces to attach the arbor to and help it stand up. I always love how these 3D dome projects turn out!

Happiness is Homemade:

STAMPS: Petite Places: Home & Garden

INK: Lovely Lady, Pure Poppy, New Leaf, True Black, Classic Kraft

PAPER: white

DIES: Petite Places: Home & Garden dies, Scene It: Doily Tag Base die

OTHER: German & Mica Flitter (grass), jar - Michaels.

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My second assignment was to use the garden shed stamps on a flat project, so I made a card. Since the cute little garden shed and flowers were so tiny, I found some tags to stamp them on, then added the tags to my cards. The tags are die cut with Tremendous Tags. I love these! The sentiment is fun too, isn't it!

The background paper is from one of the older Make It Market kits, County Fair. And the ribbon at the top is from an older Make It Market kit called Nostalgic Notions, both of which are no longer available...sorry about that. But you can get an idea of what to do with these cute Petite Places stamps on tags!

Plant Dreams card:

STAMPS: Petite Places: Home & Garden

INK: Lovely Lady, Pure Poppy, True Black, New Leaf, Summer Sunrise

PAPER: white, County Fair Make It Market kit (pink), Classic Kraft

DIES: Petite Places: Home & Garden, Scene It: Doily Tag Base

OTHER: German & Mica Flitter (grass), ribbon, twine.

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All of the new products you see here today will be available at Papertrey Ink on the 15th at 10pm EST! Thank you for stopping by! Visit the rest of the team to see more Petite Places!

Amy Sheffer
Ashley Cannon Newell
Betsy Veldman
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Kay Miller
Laurie Willison
Lizzie Jones
Melissa Phillips
Nichole Heady

Butterfly Inspirations...

Today the Papertrey Ink team has some butterfly inspiration for you! We have some new butterfly products coming out on the 15th! Let's get started!

My first card is a little bit on the artistic for me, but I had fun making it! I used the new Background Basics: Splats stamps in the background and a new Cover Plate: Butterfly die over the top. I cut the top piece out of watercolor paper and just went to town with yellow, orange and red watercolors. It's kind of messy, but just a fun look to try!

"Happy New Baby" was stamped with Keep It Simple: Baby stamps. The whole front is popped up with pop dots.

Happy New Baby card:
STAMPS: Keep It Simple: Baby, Background Basics: Splats
INK: True Black
PAPER: white, watercolor paper
DIES: Cover Plate: Butterfly
OTHER: watercolors, sequins.
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Next is a card made with a new die called the new Bitty Butterflies die. It's an A2 size that cuts out all of the small butterflies. I used the negative sheet and backed it with a Holiday Plaid paper.

Then I used the new Enclosed: Butterfly dies and stamps to create the large butterfly, backed with vellum that I stamped with Enclosed: Butterfly stamps.

What do you think of the white with the red?

I'm So Blessed card:
STAMPS: Enclosed: Butterfly
INK: True Black, Fresh Snow
PAPER: white, Pure Poppy, vellum, Holiday Plaid
DIES: Enclosed: Butterfly, Cover Plate: Bitty Butterflies
OTHER: white embossing powder.
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Last is a card that totally happened by accident, I actually had the card all finished, then took it apart after I had the idea to add the vellum first, then the small butterflies. I really like the layers! All of the butterflies are cut out with the same die from the last card, the Bitty Butterflies die. I love how you can cut so many of them at once. Then they are stamped with the Bitty Butterflies stamps!

First, I stamped the sentiment and wanted the smaller butterflies to flow up the card, so I figured out the placement of them around the sentiment. Then I stamped the Stitches & Swirls above the sentiment and embossed them in white to make them pop a bit more. I added the stamped butterflies, enamel dots and a bit of white paint splatters.

Celebrating With You baby card:
STAMPS: Tucked In: Baby, Stitches & Swirls, Bitty Butterflies
INK: True Black, white
PAPER: vellum, white, Classic Kraft
DIES: Cover Plate: Bitty Butterflies, Enclosed: Butterfly
OTHER: white embossing powder, enamel dots.
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All of the new products you see here today will be available at Papertrey Ink on the 15th at 10pm EST! Thank you for stopping by! Visit the rest of the team to see more butterfly inspiration!

Amy Sheffer
Ashley Cannon Newell
Betsy Veldman
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Kay Miller
Laurie Willison
Lizzie Jones
Melissa Phillips
Nichole Heady

Introducing Bold Blossoms...

We are back with another Papertrey Ink release countdown, where each day we'll be showcasing new stamps, dies and papers coming out on the 15th of this month! Today I get to share the new Bold Blossoms products by Dawn McVey!

On the first card, I used one of the Bold Blossoms Watercolor Papers with watercolor pencils. Watercolor pencils are sooo much fun! All you do is basically color in the areas you want to add color to, take a slightly wet paint brush with water and just dab a little water over the top. It blends and makes it look painted.

To get more intense color with the watercolor pencils, I added more red to the centers of the big flowers when it was still wet a second time. It's easier to start light and add more color as you go! I cut my own banner and notched the ends with scissors, then used the Bold Blossom stamps for the sentiment.

On the next card, I used another of the Bold Blossoms papers as a guide to where to place my stamped die cuts! I'll show you in the next few photos how I did this...

I chose one of the Bold Blossoms papers and used it as a guide as a placement for my stamped die cuts with Bold Blossoms stamps and dies. I wanted to paste them over the top. I used a new ink color for the leaves called Mint Julep! The outlines are stamped with New Leaf ink. The flowers are stamped with Lovely Lady and Pure Poppy inks.

Then I went ahead and started gluing everything on over the top, lining them up with the flowers on the papers.

The big flower is popped up with pop dots. Next, I used a yellow watercolor pencil and colored the empty space.
Then I used a paintbrush to add water over the top to smooth out the watercolor pencil. It adds a cool painted look to the design!

After it was dry, I stamped a sentiment from Bold Blossoms stamp set. I like how the water from the paintbrush leaves little pools of color and makes it look more painted! The background paper is from the Nostalgic Notions paper pad.

Last, I tried Dawn's idea of stamping on kraft with white ink and then adding color over the top. You can see her Make It Monday video tutorial on this technique by clicking the link above. I really like how the colors look on the kraft cardstock!

One of the Holiday Plaid papers were used on top of the card.

Visit Nichole Heady's blog to see more sneak peeks all this week and grab the Bold Blossoms papers, stamps and dies on Jan. 15th at 10pm EST when they will be released! To see more, be sure to visit Betsy Veldman, Melissa Phillips, and Dawn McVey. Erin Lincoln and Lizzie Jones will have peeks at their new products as well. Wishing you a creative day!

Celebrate card:

STAMPS: Bold Blossoms

INK: True Black

PAPER: Enchanted Evening cardstock, Bold Blossoms

DIES: none

OTHER: sequins by Pretty Pink Posh, watercolor pencils.

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Thank You card:

STAMPS: Bold Blossoms

INK: Lovely Lady, Pure Poppy, Mint Julep, New Leaf, True Black

PAPER: Bold Blossoms, Nostalgic Notions

DIES: Bold Blossoms

OTHER: watercolor pencils, enamel dots.

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Kraft Celebrate card:

STAMPS: Bold Blossoms

INK: Fresh Snow, Lovely Lady, Pure Poppy, Mint Julep, New Leaf, True Black

PAPER: Classic Kraft, Holiday Plaid, white cardstock

DIES: none

OTHER: enamel dots, seam binding, machine stitching, corner rounder.

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Stitched Sentiments Revisited...

Today the senior design team members at Papertrey Ink are revisiting an older stamp set today to give you new ideas for using it! The stamp set we are using today is called Stitched Sentiments, which you can find HERE in the Papertrey Ink shop! Do you have this set? It's one of my absolute favorites!

I've paired Stitched Sentiments stamps with the Life Is Beautiful dies for these cards today.

To create each of these cards, I've cut a panel of white cardstock, stamped the stem, flowers and sentiments with Stitched Sentiments, then wrapped the panel with twine. I used the Life Is Beautiful dies to cut out the back panel of the butterfly in patterned paper, then the front of the butterfly in vellum.

The stamped panels are then backed with patterned paper. On this teal card, I used paper from the Vintage Linens Patterned Paper Collection.  I actually started with the patterned paper in mind that I wanted to use first, then pulled my colors for the stamping from the papers to get a cohesive design. A few gold sequins add a little sparkle and finish off the card.

Here is a different color combo, but same design. I used the Vintage Linens Patterned Paper Collection again for the back of the butterfly and the floral background paper.

The vellum butterflies are just adhered in the centers.

Last, a soft gray one made with the Stormy Sea + White Patterned Paper Collection and Stormy Sea cardstock and inks. I also used a new ink color called Lovely Lady. This time I stamped the stem above the butterfly instead of below it. Which do you like better?

The Stitched Sentiments stamp set comes with other sentiments also, so you could easily use this design and change out the sentiments to create birthday cards, love and thank you's as well. I think I may make a few card sets with other sentiments and put them up in my shop!

Be sure to visit the other ladies to see more with Stitched Sentiments: Betsy, Dawn, Heather and Melissa. Happy New Year!!!

You card set:

STAMPS: Stitched Sentiments

INK: Lovely Lady, Stormy Sea, Pure Poppy, True Black, New Leaf, 

Melon Berry, Tropical Teal, Aqua Mist

PAPER: Stormy Sea cardstock and patterned paper, Vintage Linen Patterned Paper, 

vellum, Tropical Teal Patterned Paper

DIES: Life Is Beautiful

OTHER: twine, sequins.

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