MFT Card Challenges...

Good morning! I have a special post today, as I am honored to guest design for My Favorite Things this month! Each Wednesday in August, I'll be posting a sketch and a card inspired by the sketch. Hope you can play along too! Here is the first sketch:

When I first looked at the sketch, I saw the four squares and decided to interpret that into four items. Then I grabbed a stamp set and matching dies to work with: the Count the Stars Clear Stamps and the Stars & Wishes dies by My Favorite Things. I went to die cutting 4 of the "Stars" words to use on my card and stacked them for a rainbow effect.

Four of the Star words ended up being too many, and I felt like it was too crowded on my card, so I ended up with three die cut words instead. To create a dreamy background, I stamped and embossed the little stars in white embossing powder. Then I used a felt pad and some aqua ink to rub over the star images. The effect is a dreamy, soft look that helps set off the die cut words! 

Last, I stamped the sentiment on a strip, and instead of placing it under the focal point like in the sketch, I placed it over the top. 

The sketch really gave me a starting point to start with, then I took it from there and went my own direction with it. See you next week with another sketch and card! Be sure to play along at MFT Card Challenges for your chance to win a prize from MFT!
Danielle

Monthly Moments: November...

Today I'd like to share with you the newest Monthly Moments collection for November, which will be available on Nov. 15th at 10pm EST at Papertrey Ink. Evidently, I jumped the gun making a "thankful" mini album last time, because this month's kit was perfect for scrapping family, food, and thankfulness! So here is another one, just an album filled with photos from last Thanksgiving.

As I looked through the journal cards, stamps and dies, I knew immediately what I wanted to do with them. Last Thanksgiving, my side of the family and my grandmother came to visit, and it was our first Thanksgiving together in 13 years. We all got together and took some family photos up by Daniel's Park here in Colorado, so I put together a little book of photos to give to my mom when she comes this year. I used the new tag die, Monthly Moments: Journal Card 6 to trim the journal cards and some of the photos. I used the stamp set on some of these also before I started putting it all together. Also incorporated a few other dies by Papertrey Ink, which I'll list in the supplies.

Here is the first inside page, just a kraft tag stamped with the Monthly Moments: November stamps.

Another super quick page, stamped with the stamps again. I cut a cork heart from the Tremendous Tags dies.  I didn't add journaling to my book yet...wasn't sure if I wanted to write in it from my perspective, since I wanted to give it away to my mom.

Pic of my mom and dad... cut with the same tag die as above, trimmed from 4x6" photos.

This "Give Thanks" paper from the Journal Card Collection was so cute, had to use it. It's larger than some of the others I used (others were cut in half), but I think adding different sizes into the book makes it more interesting. I added washi tape, a felt heart cut with Tremendous Tags dies, little paper clip and a pearl.

Even though the pictures didn't exactly match the papers (with the pink in our scarves), I decided to use them in color anyway. I don't think anyone will mind when they look at these 10 years from now! It's fun to see them in color rather than black and white, don't you agree? Too often I see black and white pics being used. This is my mom and dad in the middle, my brother and his family on the left, and me and my family on the right.

The leaves were cut with Leave It Be with some burlap, cut the "November" with the Monthly Moments: November die and added some stamping and washi tape. The washi tapes are fabric ones from Michaels..so in love with them!

Picture of my mother and her mother... it was vest and scarf season. :)

Here is a picture of me, my hubby and 2 girls. Funny to see this now, as my girls have slimmed down a lot since last Thanksgiving!  I cut a Wonderful Words: Together die and stapled it onto the pic, added more washi tape and another cork heart.

"Gobble, gobble" stamped tag for journaling...

Photo of my girls...

Little bit of layering of journaling cards and tags, and another felt piece cut with Tremendous Tags.

There are more pics, but I will spare you! :) Anyway, you get the gist of the cute journal cards and stamps, I hope. I'll be back tomorrow with more projects!

Thankful, Family Traditions Mini Album:
(All supplies by Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.)
STAMPS: Monthly Moments: November
INK: Dark Chocolate, Classic Kraft inks
PAPER: Monthly Moments: November Journal Card Collection, Dark Chocolate and Canyon Clay cardstock, Dark Chocolate Pattern Pack
DIES: Monthly Moments: November, Monthly Moments: Journal Card 6 die, Rustic Wreath, Tremendous Tags, Wonderful Words: Together, Phrase Play #7, 
Polkadot Parade #6 (mini leaves on front cover)

OTHER: twine, seam binding, pearls, paper clips, 
Canyon Clay felt, kraft tags, washi tapes, cork, burlap, machine stitching.

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Visit the the PTI team to see more with these new products:

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

Gossamer Blue October kits...

The Gossamer Blue kits are up for sale right now, grab one while they are still available, you won't be disappointed! They are GORGEOUS! Full of Teresa Collins' new Nine & Co. line and lots more. You can see them HERE. I wanted to show you a few things I made with the main scrapbook kit and the Life Pages kit, and I'll have more to show you soon.

This card utilizes a PL card on the front from the Life Pages kit, and I added some things from the main kit over the top. The leafy rub-on was added to vellum, so that I could use it on more than one thing!

Forgot how much I love rub-ons. They are so much fun! Here I used a rub-on from the main kit (the type font) and added it to a die cut. Then I added the banner die cut, floral piece and the wood veneer. Simple to make, but all of the patterns together add a lot of interest and detail to the card.

This Nine & Co paper has gold foil in it...a feast for the eyes!

This bold black and white striped paper was irresistible... just added some rub-on stitches, a rub-on thankful saying and a few die cuts and banner stickers.

The friend card is a mix of the main kit (floral die cut) and the Life Pages kit.

The pretty gold string was from my stash.

Really hope you'll check out Gossamer Blue. I'm in LOVE with their kits!! Phenomenal. They are definitely my style and so easy to work with and packed with the most beautiful, newest products out there. I think you'll feel the same way too! You can see more of the design team's pages and cards with the October kits HERE (scrapbook pages), HERE (PL pages), and HERE (cards).

more Monthly Moments: September...

Hello! I'm back with one more project made with the Monthly Moments: September stamps, dies and Journal Card Collection by Papertrey Ink. If you'd like to see all of the products separately, you can see them here. With the cooler nights and all of the back-to-school events lately, I was in a mood to create a fall-ish thankful mini album. I haven't added photos yet, but photos will be easy to insert, just punch holes at the top and add them in between the pages on the binder ring!

Along with the Monthly Moments products, I've also used the Autumn Adornments stamps on the front cover, stamped and embossed it with gold embossing powder onto a Monthly Moments Journal card. I cut a Phrase Play #7 die from watercolor paper and then just painted some color right over the top and used the Monthly Moments: September stamps in the cut out ("falling leaves, harvest, hay rides"). The thankful was cut from gold paper.

The second page is another Monthly Moments: September Journal Card. I stamped "fall" with the stamp set and embossed it in gold again, trimmed it out and added a leaf die cut from the Doodlie-Do dies.

The third page is a little pocket cut with the Journal Pocket 3 die using vellum and is stamped/embossed with gold again ("Autumn"). You could add photos, journaling, etc. in the pocket.

Aren't these journaling cards cute? I love all the sayings on them.

On the fourth page, I made my own little pocket made with two of the Journal Cards and used some of the stamps on the front, also added a tag made from vellum to tuck inside.

The leftover leaf cut out from the "thankful" piece on the front cover works well here.

On this page, I used the Monthly Moments: September die to cut out the word, then glued the word back on over the top, offsetting it slightly. I like how you can see through the cut out word. "Autumn days" was stamped with Dark Chocolate ink.

Here I attached two journaling cards together to make one long page. This would be a good spot for journaling.

On the last page I'm going to show you, I cut an Apple Prints opening in the journal card and backed it with red dot washi tape and added another "thankful" die cut over the top cut with Phrase Play #7 die.

Would anyone like to give this little mini album a home? Please leave a comment if you are interested, and I'll choose a winner by the end of this week. So glad you stopped by!

Thankful Mini Album:
(All supplies by Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.)
STAMPS: Monthly Moments: September, Autumn Abundance
INK: Dark Chocolate, Pure Poppy, Classic Kraft, Versamark
PAPER: Monthly Moments: September Journal Card Collection, gold paper - Luxe Letterpress kit, white and Classic Kraft cardstock, Fine Linen Bitty Dot patterned paper
DIES: Journal Card 3 die, Doodlie-Do dies, Phrase Play #7, Apple Prints
OTHER: vellum, gold twine - Michaels, washi tape by MT, gold dot paper on front cover/gold stars- Heidi Swapp Project Life, watercolor paper, watercolors, corner rounder.
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To see more September projects with the Monthly Moments collection, visit: 

Ashley Cannon Newell, Heather Nichols,  and Melissa Phillips.

burlap and bouquets...

Just a couple of cards for fun today made with Fancy Pants' new Burlap and Bouquets line...isn't it lovely? I just layered some of the Large Decorative Tags in the background, some of the Brag Cards on top of that, and then a few of the Ephemera pieces (florals).

On the Thanks card, I stamped the sentiment with Papertrey Ink's Thank You Kindly stamp set and added some gold twine. The "And" is from the Button Set. It's chipboard, and I love the dimension it gives!

I'm loving the color black lately. Not sure why, but I think it may be the contrast it lends with the other colors, just makes everything pop!

Well, I'm very glad you stopped by and hope you are having a great weekend! I'm getting my house all spiffy for my friend Claudia to come over and visit tomorrow. Can't wait to see her again. What are you currently working on? I'll be back soon with some Gossamer Blue cards, the next Make It Market kit called Tinsel & Tags, and another Monthly Moments project, so lots coming!

Birds and Blooms...

Birds & Blooms is a limited edition stamp set from Papertrey Ink. Today the team is sharing a few projects made with this beautiful set.

I decided to keep mine pretty simple this time and let the pretty stamps speak for themselves. I stamped the branch in Ripe Avocado ink with little Sweet Blush hearts on the stems. The sentiment was masked off partially (I use washi tape and just tape over the parts I don't want to stamp!), so I could stamp the grateful in red first and then the smaller words in black! Love how the two-toned sentiment looks, and LOVE that font!!

I finished the design off with a pretty resin bloom by Papertrey Ink. And I couldn't resist creating an envelope to go with it, which was made similar to the card, but with a little piece of washi tape on top.

This stamp set will be available for only one year (February 15th, 2013 through February 15th, 2014). It is exclusive for purchase with 24 Rewards Points only, and cannot be purchased with cash. It's available for a year, so you have plenty of time to save up your points and earn this set! Have questions about the Papertrey Ink rewards point system? You can check out the Rewards detail page HERE. 

Release day - August.

It's the 15th again, and that means the Papertrey Ink team is allowed to share what we've been working on for the month of August! First, meet the new Heart-2-Heart #7 stamp set.

I've used the leaves two different ways here - once as rows, and then I stamped them front to front to create little circles down the second card. The cute flower die is the Heart-2-Heart #7 die. Simple to layer and pull up the edges of the flower for a bit of dimension.

Heart-2-Heart #7 Cards:

STAMPS: Heart-2-Heart #7
INK: Spring Moss, Pure Poppy, Summer Sunrise, Harvest Gold
PAPER: white and Harvest Gold cardstock, Pure Poppy Pattern Pack
DIES: Heart-2-Heart #7 (flower), Heart-2-Heart #3 (heart)
OTHER: pearls by Melissa Frances, 2" circle punch by Fiskars.

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Next, meet the Framed Out #7 stamps and dies.
I popped up the pretty frame and added a flower from the Heart-2-Heart #7 in felt. I decided to try some different colors of stamping on the Spring Moss cardstock - used Spring Moss, Pure Poppy and True Black.

You're the Best card:

STAMPS: Framed Out #7, Background Basics: Houndstooth, Sunflower Bouquet, Think Big Favorites #19
INK: Spring Moss, Pure Poppy, Aqua Mist, True Black inks
PAPER: Spring Moss cardstock, Pure Poppy Pattern Pack, script paper is by Pink Paislee
DIES: Framed Out #7, Heart-2-Heart #7
OTHER: felt, Ripe Avocado button, Pure Poppy ribbon, pearl by Melissa Frances.

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Here I've used the new Think Big Favorites #19 stamps and the Counting My Blessings dies, as well as Background Basics: Herringbone!

On the first card, I cut several "thankfuls" and layered them. The white ones are so pretty on white cardstock! This tone-on-tone look could be done with any color!

On this card, I alternated the look of the smaller herringbone stamp and left room in the center for the large word. This way the word really stands out.

I layered some leaves from the Autumn Acorns dies and hung a little Tiny Tags heart from the word with twine.

So in love with this card!

Thankful card set:

STAMPS: Background Basics: Herringbone, Think Big Favorites #19
INK: Summer Sunrise, Dark Chocolate
PAPER: white, Fine Linen Pattern Pack, Pure Poppy Pattern Pack, Dark Chocolate Pattern Pack
DIES: Tiny Tags, Counting My Blessings, Autumn Acorrns
OTHER: Dark Chocolate button, rustic twine, Pure Poppy ribbon.

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Here is a more modern looking one with the Thanks All Ways stamps and the Cover Plate: Quatrefoil die. I cut a quatrefoil shape, placed it on my card and glued down the pieces, then removed the outer piece. I only used half of the pieces for a slanted look.

Thanks for All You Do card:

STAMPS: Thanks All Ways
INK: Fresh Snow
PAPER: Smokey Shadow cardstock, Ripe Avocado cardstock, white, Autumn Abundance patterned paper
DIES: Cover Plate Quatrefoil die
OTHER: white embossing powder, My Mind's Eye brad.
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"Just a Note" features Sunflower Bouquet. I used chalks to give the sunflowers and vase a soft look.

The triangles of patterned paper remind me of a little tablecloth.

Just a Note card:

STAMPS: Background Basics: Newsprint, Background Basics: Houndstooth, Sunflower Bouquet
INK: Harvest Gold, Classic Kraft, Soft Stone, True Black
PAPER: White cardstock, Simply Chartreuse Pattern Pack
DIES: Sunflower Bouquet
OTHER: Chalks, Ripe Avocado ribbon, Little Yellow Bicycle pin.

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"Thanks for coming to my party" uses the cupcake from Foodie Fun and sentiments from Thanks All Ways, and they are just quickly stamped onto a graph paper by Crate Paper. Easy! I punched some red polkadot paper for the cherries on top.

Thanks for Coming to My Party card:

STAMPS: Foodie Fun, Thanks All Ways
INK: Summer Sunrise, Raspberry Fizz, Hawaiian Shores, Sweet Blush, Ripe Avocado
PAPER: Aqua Mist, Harvest Gold
DIES: corner rounder
OTHER: twine by the Twinery, red paper, graph paper by Crate Paper.
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Last, something different - a little folk art looking framed piece with the Autumn Hills stamps (tree and sentiment). I cut some leaves with the older Autumn Acorns dies with felt and wrapped them around a spool with rustic twine. The patchwork feel of the hexagons to me really went with the rustic, cozy feel of the Autumn Hills stamps!

Bountiful Blessings Frame:

STAMPS: Autumn Hills, Happy Hexagons, Background Basics: Houndstooth
INK: Classic Kraft, True Black, Pure Poppy, Spring Moss
PAPER: Ripe Avocado, Spring Moss, Classic Kraft cardstock, Summer Sunrise Pattern Pack
DIES: Autumn Acorns, Happy Hexagons, Teacher's Apple
OTHER: black paper - Crate Paper, ruler paper - Echo Park, Pure Poppy button, rustic twine, Dark Chocolate button, Fine Linen felt, twine spool, Maya Road pin, frame - Target.

That's it for me. All products will be available at 10 pm EST tonight at www.papertreyink.com! Let me know if you have any questions about these projects, I'll be happy to answer them. Have a good day!