Papertrey March Blog Hop Challenge: Flower Pattern Inspiration

Time for the March Papertrey Ink blog hop!  We were given a lovely inspiration photo of floral prints designed by Victoria Johnson.  I created my card background in that style using the Garden of Life, Mini Blooms, and Christmas Poinsettia stamp sets by Papertrey Ink.

print designed by the talented Victoria Johnson

It's interesting how different colors look printed versus my computer screen.  The gray looked like lavender, for example, so I used Winter Wisteria.  Shrug.  I am NOT re-doing it!  lol

I used lots of different flowers and colors to mimic the pattern.  I also hand-cut every single one.  I'm a glutton for punishment apparently.  :)  Actually, it's very therapeutic.  I had a podcast playing and the time passed quickly.  I love the zen of creating.

I glued all the flowers to a Dark Indigo card base and trimmed off the edges.  I didn't want to cover up my pretty background, so I stamped my sentiment from Happy Hydrangeas on vellum cut with a Keep It Simple Frames die.  I used Dark Indigo ink to match the card.  If I had a Misti, I would have stamped it again to make it darker.  It's a bit lighter than I hoped.  Still, I really like how this card turned out!

Check out other cards for the blog hop here.

Stamps:  Garden of Life, Mini Blooms, Christmas Poinsettia, Happy Hydrangeas (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Blueberry Sky, Enchanted Evening, Dark Indigo, Ocean Tides, Lovely Lady, Raspberry Fizz, Winter Wisteria (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White, Dark Indigo, vellum (Papertrey Ink)
Misc:  Keep It Simple Frames dies (Papertrey Ink)

PTI 10th Anniversary Stitching Challenge: Rainbow Hello

I made a card for the first day of the Papertrey Ink 10th Anniversary celebration.  Lizzie Jones will be doing a Stitching Focus feature every month on Nichole Heady's blog and this first one showcased the Stitched Coasters dies which I do not own.  The challenge was to make a project inspired by the showcased coasters.  #1 and #5 caught my eye and I got the idea to use A Little Argyle to copy some of the elements.

I liked the rainbow colors of coaster #5 and the crossed circles of coaster #1, so I cut circles using the Scent-imentals dies from Pure Poppy, Orange Zest, Bright Buttercup, New Leaf, Blueberry Sky, and Amethyst Allure cardstock.  I stamped a row of X's from A Little Argyle in a row on Smokey Shadow cardstock and embossed them with white powder.  I also did the same thing directly on the circles.  Then I glued the circles in place, matching the lines.  It's a fun look!

In the process of looking for a die to fit the sentiment I chose from Scattered Showers Additions, I stumbled across the Beaded Holiday: Garland dies from the Quick Stitch: Beaded Holiday kit that was released a while back.  I used the longest strip die and layered some Bright Buttercup cardstock under the holes for an extra pop of color.  After stamping the sentiment in Smokey Shadow ink, I added a Pure Poppy heart from the Scent-imentals dies.  I trimmed off one end of the strip after gluing it to the Smokey Shadow panel.  How perfect is that?  It fit right in with the stitching theme.  Sweet serendipity!

I cut the large Wonderful Words: Hello die from Orange Zest Bitty Dot patterned paper and twice from white cardstock.  I layered them all together, off-setting the dotted piece to get a white shadow effect.  I glued it in place over the sentiment strip and then mounted the whole thing to an Orange Zest card base.

I had no idea where this card was going when I started, but I really love the finished design!  Look for more stitched inspiration here.

Stamps:  A Little Argyle, Scattered Showers Additions (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  VersaMark; Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White, Smokey Shadow, Pure Poppy, Orange Zest, Bright Buttercup, New Leaf, Blueberry Sky, Amethyst Allure, Orange Zest Bitty Dot (Papertrey Ink)
Misc:  Scent-imentals dies, Wonderful Words: Hello die, Beaded Holiday: Garland die (Papertrey Ink); white embossing powder (Filigree)

PTI Past, Present and Future 2015: Bitty Hello

It feels weird to post this out of order, but as I still haven't made a 2014 card, I wanted to go ahead and get this card posted.  I don't have any of the featured 2015 sets, so I chose to use Bitty Bouquets which was released that year.  My card is mainly a CASE of a design by Betsy Veldman found here.  The past six weeks have been hard.  Heart-wrenching hard.  Lately, I have felt depleted.  My mojo was struggling, to say the least.  I needed to create something.  This sweet design was perfect for me.

I used two bouquets from the stamp set.  After cutting them from white cardstock with the matching dies, I stamped my flowers using Ripe Avocado, Hibiscus Burst, and Blueberry Sky ink.  I cut a vase using the Mega Gracious Vases dies and stamped it with the matching image in Stormy Sea ink.  I rolled the edge of the stamp in Smokey Shadow ink before doing so.  It looks so cool!  I glued the flowers in the vase.

I stitched a piece of dotted Sheer Basics vellum on a Spring Rain card base using my sewing machine.  I haven't done that in ages!  I cut a scalloped Keep It Simple Frames die from white cardstock and stamped a sentiment from Bitty Bouquets in black ink.  After gluing it in place on the card, I added my floral vase using foam tape for dimension.

Two more cards to go to finish the Past, Present and Future challenges!  I hope to get them done soon.  You can see other cards made for the 2015 Papertrey Ink showcase here.  

Stamps:  Bitty Bouquets, Mega Gracious Vases (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento); Hibiscus Burst, Blueberry Sky, Ripe Avocado, Stormy Sea, Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White, Spring Rain, Sheer Basics Vellum (Papertrey Ink)
Misc: Bitty Bouquets dies, Mega Gracious Vases dies, Keep It Simple Frames dies (Papertrey Ink); sewing machine; white thread; foam tape