Pieced Easter Eggs

For this particular Love Fest challenge over at Splitcoaststampers, we had to use items that started with the letters L.O.V.E.  (found here)  I struggled quite a bit with it.  Not as easy as you would think!  Eventually, I settled on these components:

L - Lucky Limeade cardstock

O - one butterfly, old scraps

V - Very Vanilla cardstock

E - Easter eggs

I have had these paper-pieced Easter eggs sitting in my scrap drawer for a couple of years.  I just could never get them to work on a card.  This time I was determined to do it!  They were created by cutting strips of patterned paper and gluing them side by side on white cardstock.  Once dry, I diecut the egg shapes using a Spellbinders die.

For my card I layered Very Vanilla cardstock on a Lucky Limeade card base, and then added a piece of Almost Amethyst that was embossed with polka dots.  I cut a strip of grass using Lucky Limeade and placed my eggs both in front and behind the grass.  For a last touch, I stamped a butterfly and cut it out.  It makes a sweet Easter card!   :)

Stamps:  Butterfly Dreams (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Almost Amethyst, Very Vanilla, Lucky Limeade (Stampin' Up); 8x8 Slab (Provo Craft)
Ink:  Almost Amethyst (Stampin' Up)
Misc:  Swiss Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug); Nested Eggs die (Spellbinders); Fresh Cut Grass (My Favorite Things)
 

Peonies and monograms

Hey there!  I'm participating in the Papertrey Ink monthly blog hop today, along with a Splitcoaststampers Love Fest challenge to use dies.  (found here)  The blog hop challenge had me stumped a bit.  Here it is:

Pull out your letter stamps and alphabet dies and create something monogrammed!  It can be a gift for someone special or a treat to keep for yourself!  You could monogram a set of notecards, stationery, coasters, journals, home decor or anything else you can dream up!  Have fun and experiment with combining different fonts, pairing up stamped & die-cut letters, pull-out neglected patterned papers to use as backgrounds, add texture with impression plates and you can even play around with with unique color combos!  We can hardly wait to see what YOU create!

I wasn't really sure where I wanted to go with it.  Card?  Notepad?  Whose initials?  After some thinking and playing around with my dies, I finally settled on this pretty little design.

Love it!  It's so elegant and classy.  I dry-embossed the background with a simple polka dot pattern.  I heat-embossed the peony and leaves in black, which really pops against the bright colors.  Then I layered two die shapes from Pretty Peonies, stamping the matching frame on top.  I stamped the black initials, putting the pink diecut letter in the center.  Love the look!  I used my own initials, so I get to use this pretty card for whatever I want.   :)

Stamps:  Pretty Peonies, Fresh Alphabet (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White, True Black, Hibiscus Burst, Limeade Ice (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento); Black (VersaColor)
Misc:  Pretty Peonies dies, Block Alphabet Upper die (Papertrey Ink); Swiss Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug); Silhouette Black embossing powder (Embossing Arts Co)
 

Thinking of you

One of my friends requested a sympathy card, so I used the colors from one of the Splitcoaststampers Love Fest challenges.  You can see the inspiration pic and color scheme here.  I don't have any Unity stamps, so I pulled out an oldie-but-goodie Verve set called Petals & Stems.

I stamped my own background paper using each part of the flower in a different color.  (a nod to the inspiration pic flowers)  I also cut out one of each layer for the main panel's flower, stamping the stem in Chocolate Chip ink, and then layering the petals for dimension.  I kept the rest of the card design simple to let the colors shine.  Inside, I stamped another sentiment and matted it with a scalloped Chocolate Chip layer to match the front of the card.

Stamps:  Petals & Stems (Verve); Pond Life (Papertrey Ink); Thoughts & Prayers (Stampin' Up)
Paper:  White (Papertrey Ink); Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo, Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up)
Misc: Classic Rectangles Large dies, Scalloped Rectangles Large dies (Spellbinders)  

You are fabulous

I finished this card last night for another one of the Splitcoaststampers Love Fest challenges (found here) and finally have some time to post it.  My Favorite Things sponsored a challenge to make an encouragement card, so I pulled out this cute little Pure Innocence girl.

Isn't she sweet?  I colored her with Copic markers and then used some pretty patterned paper to paper-piece her dress.  I used other prints from the same series for the rest of the card.  The bottom layers were distressed along the edges and then stitched together using my sewing machine.  I also stitched on the sentiment flag with a darker thread.  Rich Razzleberry is such a gorgeous color!  It looks fantastic with the Razzleberry Lemonade patterned paper.  (it's retired now, unfortunately)  I love this card.  I think it would brighten anyone's day.   :)

Stamps:  Aim High, Flower Silhouette (My Favorite Things)
Paper:  White (Papertrey Ink); Rich Razzleberry, Razzleberry Lemonade dp (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Copic:  0, E000, E00, E30, E42, R20, R83, R85, BV29, E55, E57, E59, C1 
Misc:  Standard Circles dies (Spellbinders); Fishtail Flags STAX dies, Fishtail Flags Layers STAX dies (My Favorite Things); distresser tool 

Bookwormabella with a touch of bling

This card is for another Love Fest challenge at Splitcoaststampers, this time sponsored by Stamping Bella.  I have several of their cute Bella stamps and have my eye on some of their Uptown Girls as well.  So adorable!  The challenge is to use bling in whatever form you like.  You can find the challenge here.  For my card, I also used Freshly Made Sketches #74.  Such a great, simple layout!  (found here)

As you can see, I used only small amounts of bling so it wouldn't overwhelm the card's simple design.  There is a small pink rhinestone in bookwormabella's hair and three larger rhinestones in the lower right corner.  If you click on the second picture, you will also see that I added glitter to her yellow top.  (one of my favorite ways to add sparkle!)

I cut a white layer with the Top Note die by Stampin' Up and then stamped/colored this adorable bookwormabella image.  I was thinking of my sister the whole time, since she is an avid book reader.  Thus the brunette hair.  I used Copic markers, of course.  Don't you just love the girly pink book she's holding?   :)

I cut a fishtail flag from Soft Stone cardstock and then stamped my sentiment from a My Favorite Things set called Clearly Sentimental About Books.  I even broke out the sewing machine to stitch it on!  I love how it looks, plus it balances the line of pink rhinestones at the bottom.  Inside the card, I stamped another sentiment from the same set.

Now to actually mail this to my sister!   :)

Stamps:  bookwormabella (Stamping Bella); Clearly Sentimental About Books (My Favorite Things)

Paper:  White, Lemon Tart, Soft Stone (Papertrey Ink)

Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Copic:  0. T1, T4, E000, E00, E30, E55, E57, E59, R20, Y11, Y13, Y15, RV04, RV13, YG13, YG17, B41, B45, B37

Misc:  Top Note die (Stampin' Up); Fishtail Flags Layers STAX die (My Favorite Things); rhinestones (Marcella by K); Crystal fine glitter (Martha Stewart)  

Reach for the stars

Splitcoaststampers is having a Love Fest series of challenges featuring their member companies, so I decided to join in to get myself stamping.  I need to build up my stash of cards.  This particular card is for the challenge sponsored by The Cat's Pajamas.  They provided an inspiration photo which can be seen here.

I started by stamping the small star grouping using silver ink on Smokey Shadow cardstock, adhering it to a Soft Stone card base.  It has a slight shimmer in person.  I punched a circle from Lemon Tart cardstock and then embossed it with the Polka Dots folder.  (reversed to look like craters)  The sentiment is stamped on a Soft Stone fishtail flag.

For the rocket, I stamped it in Tuxedo Black ink and added shading with my Copic markers.  I paper-pieced the fins and jets with silver paper and the circles with Smokey Shadow.  I used Glossy Accents to make the top of the rocket look like a window.  It adds some shine and dimension.  This card was very fun to make!

Stamps:  It's a Mod Mod World (Cat's Pajamas); Stardust & Moonbeams (Elzybells)
Paper:  Smokey Shadow, Lemon Tart, Soft Stone (Papertrey Ink); silver (unknown)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento); Silver (Encore! Ultimate Metallic)
Copic:  0, T1, T4, T6
Misc:  Fishtail Flags STAX die (My Favorite Things); Polka Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug); 1-1/2" circle punch (EK Success); Glossy Accents (Ranger) 

Violets

Well, the anniversary festivities are in full swing over at Papertrey Ink as they celebrate six years in business.  Today's challenge is to create a card with one of their Year of Flowers stamp sets.  Since I only have one of the series, it made my choice very easy!  lol  My husband was laid off the year they were all released so I only bought the first one.  The rest are definitely on my wish list though!  I'm excited that PTI is finally releasing matching dies for all of them.

 

I kept my card fairly simple since I was racing to get it done before I lost daylight.  Since I don't have a light tent, I prefer taking my photos outdoors when I can.  Naturally, if I had more time, I would redo a few things.  The background stamping turned out lighter than I wanted and the white dots look rather out of place as a result.  I still like the card though.

I used Plum Pudding to stamp the violets on a matching card base, masking to add leaves as I went along.  I added subtle shading with a Copic marker.  I think next time I will just shade around the outline and leave it at that.  Maybe it would stand out more.  Either way, I think a darker purple ink would work better.  Oh well!   :)

I stamped the violet and leaves on a strip of white cardstock, adding color with Copic markers, and then stamped the sentiment from the same set.  There is some yellow glitter at the center of the violet.  Subtle, but it really catches the eye.  Hopefully you can see it in the close-up pic.  I layered the strip on Lavender Moon cardstock to complement the lighter purple in the violet.

So there you have it!  If you want to see many projects using the other Year of Flowers sets, go to Nichole Heady's blog here. You can join in the anniversary excitement yourself!  I can't wait to see what else happens over the next week.  :)

Stamps:  Year of Flowers: Violets (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Plum Pudding, White, Lavender Moon (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Plum Pudding (Papertrey Ink); Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Copic:  0, C1, V91, V95, V99, Y32, Y35, YG11, YG13, YG17
Misc:  Lemon Drop glitter (Martha Stewart); white gel pen (Inkssentials)