Ring Nuggets

My son and his new bride had an open house at our home a week ago.  We decorated the mantel and tables, baked a lot of treats, and made these little wedding ring nuggets for favors.

Aren't they fun?  I purchased Hershey Nuggets (milk chocolate variety) and wrapped them with Sweet Blush Bitty Dot paper by Papertrey Ink.  I used 1/8" inch gold ribbon to create the ring "base" around the nugget.  Then I stamped and glittered a gemstone image from My Precious by Winnie & Walter.  Yes, I hand-cut all of them.  :)

The little kids especially liked them at the party.  The ring portion slid right off the paper and soon they were sporting their own diamond rings.  I loved it!  I didn't foresee that happening, but because I adhered the ribbon to itself, it just worked out that way.  It was fun to watch the kids with their rings. 

I love using my stamps to make little treats like these nuggets.  It made the open house just a bit more special!

Stamps:  My Precious (Winnie & Walter)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Paper:  Sweet Blush Bitty Dot (Papertrey Ink)
Misc:  1/8" gold ribbon, Sugar Cube glitter (Martha Stewart); Hershey Nuggets candy

Brooke's Bridal Shower Gift

This morning is the bridal shower for Brooke, the fiance of my nephew Ryan, so I'm sure it's safe to post pictures of her gift.  I don't know her very well since I just met her last Sunday.  I decided to duplicate the gift I made for Meghan and use Brooke's wedding colors for the gift box.  I figured most girls like jewelry, right?   :)

Again, I used a fourteen-nugget box pattern that I had saved from Splitcoaststampers about ten years ago.  It's the perfect size for gifting jewelry.

I cut two pieces of Dark Indigo cardstock according to the pattern instructions and stamped the wrap-style cover in silver ink with a heart border from the Simple Valentine stamp set by Papertrey Ink.  I did it on an angle to draw the eye to the large butterfly.

Like I stated for Meghan's gift box, I absolutely love how the butterfly turned out.  I used two different die sets by Stampin' Up - Butterflies and Bold Butterfly.  I also used the Bitty Butterfly punch by Stampin' Up.  For the large detailed butterfly on the bottom, I cut it from Crisp Canteloupe cardstock and covered the entire thing with glitter.  Hopefully you can see the sparkle in the pictures.

 

The second butterfly layer, also detailed, is cut from silver glitter paper.  Have I mentioned before how much I love sparkle?  lol  On a smaller solid butterfly die cut of Crisp Canteloupe cardstock, I stamped a butterfly from Butterfly Basics by Stampin' Up in Crisp Canteloupe ink and added a detailed vellum butterfly on top. The smallest and final butterfly layer is from silver glitter paper using the Bitty Butterfly punch.  All those pieces make an absolutely gorgeous butterfly!

 

I die cut a circle from Dark Indigo cardstock and stamped it with Background Basics: Text Style by Papertrey Ink using Dark Indigo ink.  I glued my layered butterfly directly to the circle and used foam tape to adhere it to the box to give it some dimension, adding some sheer white ribbon underneath.

I cut a piece of Dark Indigo cardstock with the Building Blocks die by Papertrey Ink and stamped a sentiment from Custom Tee by Stampin' Up, embossing it with white powder.  Isn't that sentiment perfect for a bridal shower gift?  I mounted the piece with foam tape directly over the ribbon.

The wrap-style box cover slides off and inside is the necklace and earrings that I made for Brooke. (same design as Meghan's with a different monogram, of course)  I cut a piece of batting to fit the box so the jewelry would be protected and stay in place inside.

The necklace itself is a simple design.  I added an initial charm to the center of the chain and created four different dangles so there would be two on each side.

One charm is a tiny silver flower, one is a rhinestone ball, one is a butterfly, and one is a silver ball with a faceted crystal underneath.  I used the butterfly charms and faceted crystals to create matching earrings.

Brooke's gift took me a lot less time since I had already done the design work for Meghan's gift.  It was just a matter of changing the colors.  I love the pairing of navy blue and coral.  Very striking!  I hope Brooke appreciates the time spent to create something unique for her.  I'm very proud of both of these bridal shower gifts.  They are a labor of love!

Stamps:  Butterfly Basics, Custom Tee (Stampin' Up); Simple Valentine, Background Basics: Text Style (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  VersaMark; Dark Indigo (Papertrey Ink); Crisp Canteloupe (Stampin' Up); Silver Ultimate Metallic (Encore)
Paper:  Dark Indigo, vellum (Papertrey Ink); Crisp Canteloupe, Silver Glimmer (Stampin' Up)
Dies:  Butterflies dies, Bold Butterfly dies (Stampin' Up); Building Blocks die (Papertrey Ink); Standard Circles Large die (Spellbinders)
Misc:  Bitty Butterfly punch (Stampin' Up); Sugar Cube glitter (Martha Stewart); Opaque Vanilla White embossing powder (Wow); ribbon; glue pen; foam tape

Meghan's Bridal Shower Gift

My son Matthew is getting married in seven days.  SEVEN.  Oh my goodness!  His sweet fiance Meghan had a bridal shower last night hosted by my sister-in-law Aubrie.  It was a lovely evening. Last week, I made this gift for her and now that she's received it, I can post the pictures.  I've been dying to share it!

This is the gift box.  I used her wedding colors, of course!  I had so much fun making the box even though it took me a while to design it initially.  I used a nugget box pattern I had saved from Splitcoaststampers about ten years ago.  It was the perfect size and depth for jewelry.

I cut two pieces of Lilac Grace cardstock according to the pattern instructions and stamped the wrap-style cover in silver ink with a heart border from the Simple Valentine stamp set by Papertrey Ink.  I did it on an angle to draw the eye to the focal butterfly.

I absolutely love how the butterfly turned out.  I used two different die sets by Stampin' Up - Butterflies and Bold Butterfly.  I also used the Bitty Butterfly punch by Stampin' Up.  For the large detailed butterfly on the bottom, I cut it from Pink Pirouette cardstock and covered the entire thing with glitter.  Hopefully you can see the sparkle in the pictures.

The second butterfly layer, also detailed, is cut from silver glitter paper.  Love that sparkle too!  On a smaller solid butterfly die cut from Lilac Grace cardstock, I stamped a butterfly from Butterfly Basics by Stampin' Up in Lilac Grace ink and added a detailed vellum butterfly on top for the third layer. The smallest and final butterfly layer is from silver glitter paper using the Bitty Butterfly punch.  I tried several different combinations before settling on this one and I love the result.  It is absolutely gorgeous in person!

I die cut a circle from Kraft cardstock and stamped it with Background Basics: Text Style by Papertrey Ink using Classic Kraft ink.  I also used the same inkpad to distress the edges.  I glued my layered butterfly directly to the circle.  I used foam tape to adhere the whole piece to the box to give it some dimension, adding some sheer light pink ribbon underneath.

I cut a piece of Kraft cardstock with the Building Blocks die by Papertrey Ink and stamped a sentiment from Custom Tee by Stampin' Up.  It's embossed with white powder.  I couldn't have found a better sentiment!  It's perfect for a bridal shower gift.  I mounted the piece with foam tape directly over the ribbon.

The wrap-style box cover slides off and inside is the necklace and earrings that I made for Meghan.  I cut a piece of batting to fit the box so the jewelry would be protected and stay in place inside.

Like I said previously, the old nugget box patterns work perfectly for jewelry gifts.  I think this one is sized for fourteen chocolate Hershey Nuggets.

The necklace itself is a fairly simple design.  I played with several combinations of beads before choosing this one.  I added an initial charm to the center and created four different dangles so there would be two on each side.

One charm is a tiny silver flower, one is a rhinestone ball, one is a butterfly, and one is a silver ball with a faceted crystal underneath.

It's simple, but very pretty.  I used the butterfly charms and faceted crystals to create matching earrings.

I spent two days making this gift and a similar one for my nephew's fiance.  (Her bridal shower is on Saturday so I will post it sometime this weekend.)  I really enjoyed the whole process.  I love being creative!  I was thrilled with the final product.  Still am.  The gift box turned out so beautiful and really is a gift in and of itself.

I hope Meghan will enjoy the jewelry and remember how much she is loved every time she wears it.  I chose the butterfly as a symbol of growth into her new life as a married woman.  Change isn't always easy, but the caterpillar would tell us that is worth it.  The butterfly's wings give it the ability to fly!

Stamps:  Butterfly Basics, Custom Tee (Stampin' Up); Simple Valentine, Background Basics: Text Style (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  VersaMark; Classic Kraft, Lilac Grace (Papertrey Ink); Silver Ultimate Metallic (Encore)
Paper:  Lilac Grace, vellum (Papertrey Ink); Pink Pirouette, Silver Glimmer (Stampin' Up)
Dies:  Butterflies dies, Bold Butterfly dies (Stampin' Up); Building Blocks die (Papertrey Ink); Standard Circles Large die (Spellbinders)
Misc:  Bitty Butterfly punch (Stampin' Up); Sugar Cube glitter (Martha Stewart); Opaque Vanilla White embossing powder (Wow); ribbon; glue pen; foam tape

PTI Past, Present and Future 2007: Spiral Joy

Papertrey Ink is doing a series on their blog this month looking back at their ten years in business.  I've been following them since the very beginning, so it's quite fun to walk down memory lane and see new ideas using older sets.  Each day there is a challenge to create a card with one of that year's featured stamp sets or a design inspired by one of the showcased design team cards.  For 2007, their inaugural year, I chose to use Spiral Bouquet.

My oldest son just got engaged so I have wedding on the brain!  I stamped the solid floral images in Going Gray ink on white cardstock and then stamped the swirly outline in black ink.  I spattered some gold paint over top.  I was a bit annoyed when I got streaks along with the spatters, but I decided to embrace the imperfection.  I mounted the panel on black cardstock and then adhered it to a white card base.

I cut a black heart using the Limitless Layers 2-1/4" Heart dies by Papertrey Ink, gluing it slightly off the edge for interest.  I had this gold-painted Wonderful Words: Joy die cut in my stash from last year's Stamp-a-Faire challenges and it fit my theme perfectly!  I love how it looks on the black heart.  I stamped part of a phrase from Strawberry Patch Sentiments on white cardstock and cut it into a strip.

It is so fun to go back to these older stamp sets and use them again!  I hadn't pulled Spiral Bouquet out in ages.  It makes an elegant wedding card.  Go to Nichole Heady's blog here to see more projects using this set and others from 2007.

Stamps:  Spiral Bouquet, Strawberry Patch Sentiments (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Going Gray (Stampin' Up); Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Paper:  White, True Black (Papertrey Ink)
Misc:  Limitless Layers: 2-1/4" Hearts die, Wonderful Words: Joy die (Papertrey Ink); Splendid Gold paint (DecoArt Dazzling Metallics); chipboard; paintbrush

Happy Blooms

It's the first monthly Papertrey Ink blog hop of the year!  I loved the inspiration picture and the challenge to do pretty florals on a black background.  One of my crafty goals this year is participate every month, so I'm glad the first one really caught my attention.  I knew exactly which stamp set I wanted to use - Mini Blooms by Papertrey Ink.  That was the easy part.  Execution, not so much.  I refuse to admit just how long it took me to make this.  lol

Time doesn't matter anyway.  I love the finished card!  I cut my black background with a stitched rectangle die from Blueprints 13 by My Favorite Things.  I stamped the floral clusters from Mini Blooms onto the black cardstock in VersaMark ink to give myself a pattern.  (It ended up being really hard to see.)  I added white Nuvo Crystal Drops over the dots.

All of the florals and leaves were stamped on their matching die cuts using Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, Pure Poppy, Royal Velvet, Ripe Avocado, and Simply Chartreuse inks.  I popped up the main flowers with foam tape and the rest were glued directly to the cardstock.  It turned out so bright and cheerful! 

Finally, I embossed the sentiment and flourish using white powder in the center.  I love how the colorful flowers pop against the black background.  This was a fun challenge!  Stop by Nichole Heady's blog to see everyone else's cards.  I'll be back soon to post some cards I made at a workshop last week.  Ta!

Stamps:  Mini Blooms (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  VersaMark; Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, Pure Poppy, Royal Velvet, Ripe Avocado, Simply Chartreuse (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White, True Black (Papertrey Ink)
Misc:  Mini Blooms dies (Papertrey Ink); Blueprints 13 die (My Favorite Things); White Nuvo Crystal Drops; white emobssing powder (Filigree)

Camp Create: Forever Love

You know, it's funny how challenges that should be easy for you can sometimes turn out the opposite.  My daughter Emily said that the Delightful Die Cutting challenge would be no problem because I use dies on almost every card.  Truth.  Even I thought so.  Famous last words.  I got stuck because I really wanted dies to be the showcase on the card.  It took me ALL DAY to decide on a design.  lol 

Love.  Seriously, love.  (pun intended)

I pulled out the Love die by My Favorite Things and cut it into a 4" x 5-1/4" piece of white cardstock, carefully placing it where I wanted for my design.  I stamped the sentiment from Always & Forever in Dark Chocolate ink just above the cutout.  Then I used a glue pen to liberally cover the cut letters in White Gold glitter.  Oh, how it sparkles!

I added a stitched Pure Poppy heart from the Hot Cocoa Cups dies and a trio of tiny Pure Poppy hearts from the Blueprints 11 dies.  I covered the backside with foam tape and adhered it to a Pure Poppy card base.  This is one of those cards you just have to see in person!  The dimension and sparkle really catch the eye.  I needed a wedding card and this will be perfect.

Another successful day at camp!  Here's my newest badge for this challenge.  Click on the image to see other linked cards and the instructional video.

Stamps:  Always & Forever (My Favorite Things)
Ink:  Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White, Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink)
Misc: Love die, Blueprints 11 die, Hot Cocoa Cups die (My Favorite Things); White Gold glitter (Martha Stewart); glue pen

Stamp-a-Faire 2015: Runway Challenge

Woot!  I got another challenge card done!  This one is for the runway challenge, where we were given several high fashion inspiration pictures and color combos pulled from the dresses.  I chose Betsy Veldman's flowery blue and white dress.

I cut 1-3/8" inch wide strips of White, Spring Rain, Blueberry Sky, and Enchanted Evening cardstock and adhered them to a white card base in graduated order.  Using images from Nostalgic Notions, I embossed a large flower and leaves in a random pattern using Denim embossing powder.  I love how different it looks on each strip of color!

I cut my sentiment using the Wonderful Words: Congrats die.  Before gluing it down, I created a thread nest underneath with silver metallic thread.  It subtly frames the word with just a touch of shimmer.  This card is perfect for a wedding.  Now who's getting married?  :)

Stamps:  Nostalgic Notions (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  VersaMark
Paper:  White, Spring Rain, Blueberry Sky, Enchanted Evening
Misc:  Wonderful Words: Congrats die (Papertrey Ink); metallic silver thread (Coats & Clark); Denim embossing powder (Zing!)

Stamp-a-Faire 2015: Bridal Challenge - Emily

Here is Emily's card for the bridal challenge.  She finished hers before I did, but that's partly because I helped her with the embossing.  She was a bit nervous to use the heat gun.  Besides, she makes design decisions a whole lot quicker than I do!

She heat-embossed two different styles of butterfly from the Butterfly Kisses ad Butterfly Dreams stamp sets.  After layering them together, she added pearls for the butterfly's body.  She stamped her sentiment from Friends 'Til the End in gray ink on a Building Blocks diecut and added two more pearls on each side.  The smaller white panel was embossed with a pretty heart outline pattern.  She then glued everything onto a white card base.

Stamps:  Butterfly Dreams, Butterfly Kisses, Friends 'Til the End (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  London Fog (Memento); VersaMark
Paper:  White (Papertrey Ink)
Misc:  Butterfly die, Butterfly Kisses die, Building Blocks die (Papertrey Ink); white embossing powder (Filigree); Happy Hearts embossing folder (Stampin' Up); pearls (Paper Studio)

Stamp-a-Faire 2015: Bridal Challenge

Here comes the bride!  The first challenge today is to make a wedding card, using nothing but white supplies.  The only exception is a neutral ink for a sentiment.  Emily and I both made a card for this challenge.  I'll post mine here and then Emily's card in a separate post.

I pulled out my Quick Stitch Sentiment dies and cut the world "love" into a white cardstock panel.  I mixed two strands of white embroidery floss and one strand of white metallic braid.  Once threaded onto a needle, I stitched through the holes the die left behind.  There's a subtle shimmer to the thread that is really pretty.

I cut three pieces of a flower die from Petite Pots, trimming parts from two of them.  I added pearl dots with a Viva pen and then arranged my flowers onto the card into a pleasing bouquet.  The white panels was then added to a card base with foam tape for dimension.

Voila, a pretty and elegant wedding card!  :)

Stamps:  none
Ink:  none
Paper:  White (Papertrey Ink)
Misc:  Quick Stitch Sentiments die, Petite Pots die (Papertrey Ink); Cream pearl pen (Viva); white embroidery floss (DMC); #032 fine braid metallic thread (Kreinik); foam tape

PTI 8th Anniversary: Together Forever

I'm back with a new card for the Papertrey Ink eighth anniversary celebration.  Today's challenge is to use only metallics and neutrals.  This had me stumped a bit at first because I don't have any metallic paper.  Glitter to the rescue!

I laid down strips of 1/2 inch Scor-Tape in a diagonal pattern on white cardstock and poured White Gold glitter over top.  It's such a luxurious color!   Then I adhered the panel to a black card base so the sparkle would really pop.

I pulled out an untouched stamp set called Wonderful Words: Together and stamped a small sentiment on a white Building Blocks die cut.  I glittered up a tiny heart die cut from Heart Prints using Yellow Barite.  It pulls out the bits of gold in the stripes.  I also wanted the heart to really stand out from the background.  I cut the word "together" out of black cardstock, doubling it for a little dimension.  Then I simply glued it all in place.

I really love how elegant this is, especially in person.  I hope my pictures capture the glorious sparkle.  It's a perfect wedding card, or perhaps an alternative to all the usual red and pink for Valentine's Day.  You can see other challenge cards here.

Stamps:  Wonderful Words: Together (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Paper:  White, True Black (Papertrey Ink)
Misc:  Wonderful Words: Together die, Building Blocks die, Heart Prints die (Papertrey Ink); White Gold glitter, Yellow Barite glitter (Martha Stewart); 1/2" Scor-Tape