Papertrey Ink | Make It Monday #162

Today I have a card for this week's Papertrey Ink Make It Monday: Paper Scrap Pie Charts. I love using up my piles and piles of scraps, and this technique is really easy to create. I wanted to use my new Cover Plate: Stars die & matching stamp set, and several pieces of bright patterned paper from Papertrey Ink.

I trimmed a pieces of white cardstock to 4.25x5.5 inches, then started adhering the cardstock triangles. After all the strips were adhered to the background cardstock, I adhered the Cover Plate: Stars on top of the patterned paper. I stamped the sentiment, in Raspberry Fizz ink, then adhered the die cut stars. 

To add glitter to the Aqua Mist star, I found the easiest way to do this is die cut the star from cardstock, then die cut it again from double sided adhesive. I used a sheet of double sided adhesive from Silhouette. Peel off the backing and adhere it to the star, then peel off the second backing and apply glitter. No messy glue, no loose glitter.

The final accent I added was the silver glitter enamel dot from My Mind's Eye. 
 

That's it for me today! Jack has requested that we move his new basketball hoop from the (empty) living room to the driveway so he can "shoot lots of hoops". I love his enthusiasm. :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week! 

#LegoMania | Digital Layout

For years, I have been buying Lego sets for the boys, but they haven't been interested. Sure, they open them up and maybe put a few pieces together, but usually the very expensive sets end up in one giant bin, and the firetruck/airplane/whatever is never actually assembled. 

Then we went to Lego Land in December. They boys loved every second of it, and they quickly put their new Lego sets together. A couple of months later we saw the Lego Movie in theaters, and Evan discovered the TV show Ninjago, and an obsession was born. 

Of course I had to document Evan's new hobby. I used a 6x12 inch digital template from Simply Tiffany Studios and elements from Karla Dudley's Life Story March & April kits. I usually create 12x12 inch or 8.5x11 inch layouts, and occasionally 8x8 inch layouts, so this was a fun change.

Jack is following in his brother's footsteps and received several new Lego sets for his birthday, too. I used my phone to take this photo of Jack. He is playing with his new Lego Juniors and Lego City sets. According to both Evan and Jack, Legos are the best. 

They boys are already looking forward to spending their summer playing with Legos.

Jack decided that Ninjago Legos are cool, but too hard for him to assemble. He likes the City and Juniors Legos the best.

Jack always gives me the "bad guy" to play with, while he is the good guy.

The best part about his new set? The jail where the bad guy has to go when he is naughty. 

Oh, how I love having little boys. And so far, ages 8 and 5 are pretty awesome. 

Paper Smooches Sparks | Designer Drafts Challenge

Good morning!

Today I have a card for this week's Paper Smooches Sparks Designer Drafts Challenge:

Here is this week's sketch:

I used two new Paper Smooches stamp sets for my card: Spectrum and Seeing Stars. The unicorn reminds me of the My Little Pony figures that my sister and I played with as kids. I loved them! I colored the unicorn with pink and blue copic markers, then added glitter with a liquid glue pen. I used Martha Stewart clear glitter, which is a chunkier glitter, and after the glue dries the glitter looks like sparkly sugar. It's really pretty in person. I created my own tag, and used a star punch at the top. The stars were stamped in Papertrey Ink's Raspberry Fizz ink, and I added enamel dots to the center of each.

The final detail I added to my card was the clear gems to create a shooting star. Glitter, enamel dots, gems... you can't go wrong with sparkle!

 Make sure to check out the rest of the Design Team for more inspiration:

Clare

Isha

Karin

Savannah

Thanks for stopping by!

RetroSketches | Challenge #112

RetroSketches is featuring another one of my cards this week. Here is the original, and here is the sketch:

My original card is very feminine (hot pink, anyone?), so I challenged myself to create a masculine version of the same sketch. I used this month's Simon Says Stamp Card Kit... isn't the remote control stamp great? And I love the Fancy Pants designer paper. I originally wanted to use a thick black cord for the remote control cable, but I don't have anything like that in my stash, so I used DMC floss instead. Not quite as cool, but it will work. The enamel dots are from My Mind's Eye and the sentiment is also from the Simon Says Stamp card kit.

I hope you can play along with Retro Sketches this week! Thanks for stopping by. :)

Sketchbook Saturday | Challenge #120

For today's card I pulled out another new stamp set that arrived last week: Papertrey Ink's Embellished Elegance. Floral stamp sets are some of my favorite to work with, and Embellished Elegance is a gorgeous set. I am playing along with this week's Sketchbook Saturday challenge:

I used seven different ink colors to create the background: 6 Memento Luxe inks (Pear Tart, Olive Grove, Morocco, Love Letter, Angel Pink, and Rose Bud) and 1 Avery Elle ink (Aquamarine). When I create full backgrounds I start stamping in the top left corner, and move down and out from there. I try to keep the spacing equal, and I start with the biggest image then gradually add the smaller images in that area. For this card, the only "two step" stamping I did was the leaves. I layered Olive Grove over Pear Tart. 

I started to adhere the stamped sentiment banners directly to the flower panel, but the background overwhelmed the white banners. To fix this, I trimmed a piece of vellum 1/4" smaller than the card base and used my tape runner to lightly adhere it to the card front before using pop dots under the banners. The vellum tones down the background some without covering up the beautiful flowers completely. 

 (Supplies - Stamps: (Papertrey Ink) Embellished Elegance. Ink: Memento Luxe, Avery Elle, Papertrey Ink. Die: (Reverse Confetti) Tag Me. Other: Enamel Dots, Vellum.)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

RetroSketches | Challenge #111

I love getting new stamps in the mail, and I received a nice box from Papertrey Ink on Friday. For this week's RetroSketches challenge I used several of my new stamp sets to create my card: Be Happy, Wet Paint, and Monthly Moments: Library Card, plus the new Tropical Teal patterns pack. 

Here is this week's sketch:

I stamped the white panel with Background Basics: Library Card in Aqua Mist ink. The "hello friend" is from Wet Paint, and the flowers & butterflies are from Be Happy. I die cut the scalloped edge from Aqua Mist cardstock, then stamped the diagonal line stamp from Be Happy on the one side of the die cut before adhering it to my card. 

 (Supplies - Stamps: (Papertrey Ink) Wet Paint, Be Happy, Background Basics: Library Card. Ink: (Papertrey Ink) Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, Tropical Teal, Orange Zest, Black. Cardstock: (Papertrey Ink) Stamper's Select White, Orange Zest, Aqua Mist, Summer Sunrise. Dies: (Papertrey Ink) Be Happy. Patterned Paper: (Papertrey Ink) Aqua Mist patterns pack, Tropical Teal patterns pack. Enamel dots: My Mind's Eye.)

That's it for me tonight. Thanks for stopping by!

ColourQ | Challenge #237

This week's ColourQ challenge had me pulling out Papertrey Ink's newest anniversary set again. I haven't put away Bold Bouquet... it's such a lovely set! I really like the layering options with the flowers and leaves. This color combo is non-traditional for flowers, but I think the flowers turned out beautifully.

I can't find my Baja Breeze ink pad or cardstock in my office right now, so I substituted Papertrey Ink's Blueberry Sky. The Happy Birthday sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Beautiful Butterflies. You can't see it in the photos, but I used my clear Wink of Stella marker in the center of each of the flowers. 

(Supplies - Stamps: (Papertrey Ink) Bold Bouquet, Beautiful Butterflies. Ink: (Papertrey Ink) Blueberry Sky, Black. (Stampin' Up!) Basic Gray, Peach Parfait, So Saffron. Cardstock: (Avery Elle) Silver Fox. (Papertrey Ink) Blueberry Sky, Harvest Gold, White. Patterned Paper: (Papertrey Ink) Melon Berry patterns pack. Dies: (Papertrey Ink) Bold Bouquet, Filigree Border die.)

I used dimensional adhesive to adhere a die cut flower to the main flower cluster, and more dimensional adhesive to adhere the whole cluster to the Silver Fox cardstock. This card is definitely not suitable for regular mail... too bulky! All the layers and big gems will need a padded envelope. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Digital Layout | Donald Duck

Shannon McNab (Scotty Girl Designs) has a passion for all things Disney and she has created some fabulous Disney kits lately. She released Hollywood Magic last week, and I created a layout using a photo from our 2011 Disney trip.

I used one of her Singled Out templates, plus the Hollywood Magic alphas, papers, and elements. 

This photo brings back so many memories from our trip. I can't believe how little the boys are! Jack wasn't even 2, and Evan had just turned 5. We haven't been back to Disney in almost 3 years. I think a family trip needs to be scheduled for next year; I know the boys would love it.  

(Supplies - Papers, stars, label, alphabet: (Scotty Girl Designs) Hollywood Magic. Template: (Scotty Girl Designs) Singled Out. Stitching: (Mommyish) Basically. Font: Rough Typewriter.)

One layout down, dozens and dozens to go! I took so many pictures during our week in Orlando, but I haven't done anything with them yet. I think it's time to create a Disney album. :)

Thanks for stopping by! 

RetroSketches | Challenge #110

Hi there! Last summer I was a guest designer for RetroSketches. They have a weekly sketch challenge that I have participated in for a couple of years now. And starting this week, I am permanently on their team! 

This week's sketch is based on one of my previous cards. How fun is that?!? You can check out the original card here, and this is the sketch:

Here is my take. I used papers from an American Crafts paper pad that I picked up a few months ago. I really like the bright, bold colors and sweet hearts. I used silver sequins, hot pink twine, and yellow enamel dots to embellish my card.

 (Supplies- Stamps: (Papertrey Ink) Keep it Simple: Birthday. Cardstock: (Papertrey Ink) White. Patterned Paper: American Crafts 6x6 pad. Sequins: unknown. Enamel Dots: My Mind's Eye. Twine: (Papertrey Ink) Raspberry Fizz. Ink: (Papertrey Ink) Tropical Teal.)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week! 

(CAS)E this Sketch | Challenge #72

I received Papertrey Ink's new Button Stacks dies last week and I've been itching to play with them. Specifically, I wanted to try covering them with clear embossing powder for a shiny look. This week's CAS(E) this Sketch challenge had me pulling out these dies to create three shiny buttons. Here is the sketch:

And here is my take. I die cut the layered buttons from Papertrey Ink's Limeade Ice, Melon Berry, and Harvest Gold cardstock. After I adhered the layers together, I covered the button with VersaMark, then coated it with clear embossing powder. After I heat set the button, I repeated the embossing process for extra shine. I love, love, love this look! Aren't the buttons adorable? I already have the Bitty Button Stacks dies on my wish list... I'm just waiting for them to be restocked! I also used green and pink buttons from Studio Calico, enamel dots from My Mind's Eye, and puffy hearts from Twine & Ink to embellish the rest of my circles.

That's it for me today! Have a wonderful weekend. :)

Papertrey Ink | Make It Monday #159

This week's Papertrey Ink Make It Monday video features a no sew quilted card front. Super cute! 

I used four different papers from various Papertrey Ink collections, and followed the same pattern as the sample Dawn provided. After assembling the quilted blocks, I used my quatrefoil die to impress the pattern into the front of the card. 

The flower cluster and sentiment are from this year's anniversary set: Bold Bouquet. Aren't the flowers gorgeous? I used Papertrey Ink's Winter Wisteria, Basic Black, and Soft Stone inks for the flower cluster. The leaves were stamped with my Memento Luxe Olive Grove ink. 

(Supplies - Stamps: (Papertrey Ink) Bold Bouquet. Cardstock: (Papertrey Ink) White, Stoft Stone. Patterned Paper: (Papertrey Ink) Winter Wisteria, Spring Moss, Soft Stone patterns packs. Dotty Biscotti patterned paper pack. Ink: (Papertrey Ink) Basic Black, Soft Stone, Winter Wisteria. (Memento Luxe) Olive Grove. Dies: (Papertrey Ink) Bold Bouquet. (Reverse Confetti) Tag Me. Impression Plate: Quatrefoil. Enamel Dots: My Mind's Eye. Other: Wink of Stella glitter markers.)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week! 

Paper Smooches Sparks | Anything Goes

Hi there! This week's Paper Smooches Sparks challenge is Anything Goes.

I colored the butterflies, from Flap Happy, with Copic markers, then used my clear Wink of Stella marker on top of each butterfly. I also used Talk Bubbles stamps and dies and the Mini Monograms alphabet for the sentiment.

That's it for me today! And make sure to check out the rest of the DT for more Paper Smooches inspiration:

Clare

Isha

Karin

Savannah

Have a great week!

Cure for the Monday Blues | Challenge #11

Hi there! I have a card for a challenge I just discovered: Cure for the Monday Blues.

I was drawn to the color combo and large word art on the wall. I used Papertrey Ink's Wonderful Words: Hello as the focal point for my card. The vellum banners were die cut from PTI's Banner Builders dies, and the flowers are from Mini Blooms.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Friday! I can't wait for the weekend. :)

Thanks for stopping by! 

Digital Layout | Us

When we had our professional photos done in November, I really wanted a few pictures of just Mark and me. And I am so pleased with the results! This photo is especially sweet, and the Pillow Talk collection from Creashens was perfect for it. I also used a digital template from Scotty Girl Designs called Singled Out.

The next time I'm at Ikea I am going to pick up a frame for this layout... I love it. I love the photo (Katie Rosado Photography), the journaling, and the beautiful elements from Creashens' kit.

This layout, plus two more, are featured on the Scrapaneers blog today. Here is the link if you want to check it out!

Have a great week! 

CAS(E) This Sketch | Challenge #70

Hi there! I have a super simple card to share for this week's CAS(E) This Sketch challenge. 

I am loving last month's Studio Calico Sugar Rush kits... both the scrapbooking and the card kit have been pulled out a lot lately! I especially love the colored plastic hearts. So, so awesome. The letter stickers are from October Afternoon and the enamel dots are from Twine + Ink.

Do you have a kit that you reach for over and over again? I am so going to be so sad when Sugar Rush is gone... it's been a lot of fun to work with.

Thanks for stopping by!