Poppy Seed challenge 1

Hi everyone! I've been sick with another sinus infection this weekend, but I managed to make a card for a new challenge. Lisa Johnson of Poppy Paperie fame, introduced this challenge which has three "seeds" to follow: use flowers, gems and the color yellow.



While laying in bed I was daydreaming about this card, so once I mustered the energy, I created it. It didn't turn out exactly as I had envisioned, but it's still pretty.



I stamped the Violets image in Lemon Tart onto Vintage Cream cardstock and added gems to the centers. The sentiment is stamped in Versamark and heat set with clear embossing powder.



Thanks for stopping by!
Melissa

"Thanks for everything" (all PTI unless noted)
Stamps: Year of Flowers: Violet
Ink: Lemon Tart and Versamark, Antique Linen (Ranger)
Paper: Vintage Cream, Lemon Tart and Enchanted Evening
Other: EE Satin ribbon, heat tool, sponge, Copic Marker, Clear Detail EP (Filigree)

PTI February Blog Hop

I love Blog Hop time! For this month, the theme is Design Team Appreciation! I chose a card by one of the newest design team member's, Erin Lincoln , as my inspiration.



The moment I saw this card, my jaw dropped and I knew that I would have to try my hand at making it my own!



I decided to stamp the buttons in blues/greens, using Enchanted Evening, Ocean Tides and Aqua Mist. Instead of masking a center oval as Erin did, I stamped a separate oval and layered it onto a scalloped oval.

What a fun idea for a theme, tonight! I can't wait to see what everyone was inspired by and what how their projects turned out! Thanks for coming by!

Melissa

"Happy Birthday, Crafty Girl!" (all PTI unless noted)
Stamps: Studio Style, Polka Dot Basics, Recipe Label (for scroll under sentiment)
Ink: Enchanted Evening, Aqua Mist, Ocean Tides, Tuxedo Black (Memento), Antique Linen (Ranger)
Paper: Enchanted Evening, Aqua Mist, Vintage Cream
Other: Oval and Scalloped oval Nestabilities dies, Aqua Mist satin ribbon, sponge, gems, Copic markers

Some fun news...

I was invited, among others, by THE Joan B, aka Paperlicious to join a fun, new blog called Waltzingmouse Makers . We will each be posting a project a week on that blog featuring Waltzingmouse Stamps!

Today is my first post-- you can check it out here .

Melissa

Papertrey Princess Challenge #3

Today I want to share a card I made with some fun new stamps! I wanted to color something for Michele's challenge, so I stamped the butterflies and colored them with Copic markers.



The background stamp is the new Tin Type background stamp, stamped with Lavender Moon ink onto Lavender Moon paper. The sentiment is from Damask Designs, one of my favorites to use!



Here is a close up of the coloring--I still need a lot of practice coloring with my Copic marker, probably a class would be good too!

Thanks for looking!
Melissa

"Happy Birthday to you" (all PTI unless noted)
Stamps: Background Basics: Tin Type, Butterfly Dreams, Damask Designs
Ink: Lavendar Moon, Dark Chocolate, Antique Linen and Walnut Stain (Ranger)
Paper: Vintage Cream, Lavendar Moon and Dark Chocolate
Other: Lavendar Moon satin ribbon, glue dot, butterfly die, corner rounder, sponge

Waltzingmouse Blog Hop!

I'm so excited to be taking part in the first Waltzingmouse Blog Hop! If you would like to start at the beginning go to the official Waltzingmouse Stamps Blog .

Last week I received my order of Faux Fun and Spring Baskets, so I decided to use both on my card!



I stamped the beautiful border image in Versamark and heat embossed it with Clear detail embossing powder, on Kraft cardstock.

For the main image, I stamped the basket (using the tips from Claire!), and then stamped the flowers again on a separate piece of cardstock. I colored each piece and cut out one to layer on top of the main image. The details in this stamp set are amazing!

Your next stop is Kate W at the Sporadic Stamper . Thanks for stopping by to look!

Melissa

"Glorious Spring Wishes"
Stamps: Faux Fun and Spring Baskets
Ink: Rich Cocoa (Memento), Versamark, Antique Linen and Walnut Stain (Ranger)
Paper: Summer Sunrise, Kraft, Vintage Cream (PTI)
Other: Slot punch (SU!), Lemon Tart satin ribbon (PTI), Copic markers, sponge, heat tool, foam tape

Valentines

Since our February was so mixed up due to the snow, my kids celebrated Valentine's Day with their classes this past week. That gave me extra time to make something for them to give to their friends. Tiny Treats: Valentines is the perfect set for the task! I had a lot of fun coloring these cute images and putting the lollipop holders together.



I made about five of several of my favorite images from the set. I think that I like the bunny, cat and dog the best!



My son still writes his letters fairly big, so I couldn't used the "to" and "from" image included in the Tiny Treats set. Instead, I stamped the "to" and "from" using those words from the Holiday Tags set. That way I could give it lots of spacing.



Thanks for looking and I hope you're having a great weekend!
Melissa

Valentines (All PTI unless noted)
Stamps: Tiny Treats: Valentine, Holiday Tags 2008, Background Basics: Hearts
Ink: Melon Berry, Aqua Mist, Sweet Blush, New Leaf, Pure Poppy, Black (Memento)
Paper: Melon Berry, Aqua Mist, Sweet Blush, New Leaf, Pure Poppy, Stamper's Select White
Other: Copic markers, sewing machine, foam tape

Happy Birthday to you

I want to share the card I made for Embellish Magazine's birthday color challenge.



I thought the colors would be fun to work with so I gave it a try!



I used Background Basics: Petal Power, which I can't seem to put down, and stamped over the four colors of cardstock in Versamark ink and then heat embossed with clear detail ep. I stamped the happy birthday sentiment in Raspberry Fizz ink (it's hard to see in the photo).

Thanks for taking a look!
Melissa

"Happy Birthday to you" (All PTI unless noted)
Stamps: Background Basics: Petal Power, Damask Designs
Ink: Versamark, Raspberry Fizz and Walnut Stain (Ranger)
Paper: Enchanted Evening, Raspberry Fizz, Dark Chocolate and New Leaf
Other: Raspberry Fizz Satin ribbon, Enchanted Evening button, Rustic Cream twine, Clear detail ep (Filigree), heat tool, sponge, corner rounder and gems.

Baby gift set

It's finally back to school today for my kids, after what seems like forever!



I want to share a project that I made for a friend who just had a baby girl! I made her this keepsake box with drawers, one of my favorite projects to make. You can see the other boxes that I've made here and here , with a full tutorial. I made one for my daughter to match her room and we keep all her hair bows and barrettes in there.




I made the personalized label on the top of the box using Ambassador Monogram Edition to spell out the name and I cut out a flower from the patterned paper.



Along with the box, I made a matching card. I used the elephant from the Click Simple template "Rock a Bye Baby" and resized it to be smaller for my card front.



And the inside of the card got decorated as well.

I think that this project qualifies for our latest Papertrey Princess challenge which was given to us by Lee. You can see the details here . I also entered this project into the Guest Star Stamper contest.

Have a great day!
Melissa

"a new little someone" card and box (all PTI unless noted)
Stamps: Baby Button Bits, Inside and Out: Baby, Ambassador Monogram Edition
Paper: Vintage Cream, Lemon Tart, Enchante Evening, Oh Baby Boy! patterned paper (Basic Grey)
Ink: Enchanted Evening, So Saffron (SU!), Walnut Stain (Ranger)
Other: unfinished wood box (AC Moore), Enchanted Evening satin ribbon, gems,scalloped circle Nestabilitie Die, Foam tape, acrylic paint, sponge, Score-tape, Threading Waters punch (Fiskars), Elephant template from "Rock a Bye Baby" Click Simple template

Blogaversary giveaway winner and a card

I'm back tonight with my card for the Embellishment challenge. Again, another part of the Papertrey Ink anniversary festivities! Nichole encouraged us to make several of our own floral embellishments, add one to a card, and then package up the rest to give to a friend.

Here they are:



And here's my card:


Let me know if you would like my sheet of floral embellishments, and I will send them to you!

And now, the winner of the blogaversary giveaway:

True Random Number Generator


Result:
35
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

That would be Linda R
LindaR said...
"Happy Anniversary!

Just gotta say, you are one of the most welcoming on the PTI forum. You have some gorgeous cards on here!!!"

I will try to get in touch with you, Linda,to get your gift to you, but you can also email me (see email under my picture).

Thanks for entering and thank you for all the well wishes for my blogaversary! It means so much to me!

Melissa

"Happy Birthday" and embellishments (all PTI unless noted)
Stamps: Vintage Picnic (for sentiment), Background Basics: Petal Power, Beautiful Blooms
Ink: Raspberry Fizz, Hibiscus Burst, Versamark, Walnut Stain (Ranger)
Paper: Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, Sweet Blush and Taken with Teal (SU!)
Other: Raspberry Fizz satin ribbon, various circle and scalloped punches, epoxy dome circles, Raspberry fizz buttons, Rustic Cream twine, Clear detail ep (Filigree), heat tool, foam tape, sponge

Valentine's Banner

It's my turn to post today at the Hybrid Chick blog, you can see my project and instructions here .



I made a fun banner for Valentine's Day using Mari Koegelenberg's DIY Printable Scalloped Banner and some gorgeous paper from Cafe Latte , a kit by Nicole Seitler and Tracie Stroud.

Have a great day!
Melissa

With Sympathy

Sadly, I've needed a couple of sympathy cards lately. I wanted to play along with Melissa Phillip's latest color inspiration photo, and decided that the soft colors would be good for a sympathy card.

Here is the beautiful photo Melissa chose from the blog A Creative Mint .


And here is my card:


Don't forget to enter to win my Blogaversary gift, a $10 gift certificate to Papertrey Ink or Amazon, your choice! Enter on this post here . I will draw for the winner on Saturday!

Thanks for looking!
Melissa

"With Sympathy" (all PTI unless noted)
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics, Out on a Limb, Birds of a Feather
Ink: Dark Chocolate, Spring Rain, Versamark, Rich Cocoa (Memento), Creamy Caramel (Clearsnap), Antique Linen and Walnut Stain (Ranger)
Paper: Vintage Cream, Kraft, Lavendar Moon
Other: Vintage Cream satin ribbon, Apron Lace border punch (Fiskars), foam tape, sponge and corner rounder

Wish Big

I'm sharing a card today that I made for Joyce--my fellow PTI blogging group member. Hope you have a wonderful day, Joyce! I'm not sure it will reach her in time due to the lack of mail around here the last few days.



I've used this same card design before and I love it. I wanted to try out my new color--lavendar moon. It was the only color I hadn't bought from PTI and I kept holding out. It's a bit more pink than I had hoped, but still pretty.

Thanks for looking!
Melissa

"Wish Big" (all PTI unless noted)
Stamps: Big & Bold Wishes, Baby Button Bits
Ink: Plum Pudding, Versamark
Paper: Plum Pudding, Lavendar Moon, Stamper's Select White
Other: Plum Pudding satin ribbon, Clear Detail embossing powder (Filigree), gems, Copic Marker (to color gems), heat tool, Threading Water border punch (Fiskars)

Designer's Favorite Colors challenge

There is no end in sight for the snow around here! It is snowing again and now school has been cancelled until next Tuesday (Monday is a Holiday)!! The Federal government is shut down again tomorrow, so at least my husband is not missing out in the fun of being stuck indoors with two kids fill of energy!

The great part is that I had lots of time today to make some cards. PTI's challenge du jour is to use one of the design team member's favorite colors to complete a card. The first one I chose is the card I will share here. The other four cards can be viewed in my online gallery at Papertrey Ink here .



Enchanted Evening is my favorite PTI color, so I knew I wanted to try this combo first. I've never paired it with Raspberry Fizz--so fun! The layout of my card is inspired by a card by Kelly Lunceford. See it here .



I made the background by stamping the floral pattern from BB: Petal Power in Enchanted Evening onto Kraft cardstock. The leaves and cut out flowers are from Blooming Button Bits, and the "thinking of you" sentiment is from Autumn Abundance.

Thanks for looking!
Melissa

"Thinking of you" (All PTI unless noted)
Stamps: Background Basics: Petal Power, Blooming Button Bits, Autumn Abundance
Ink: Enchanted Evening, Dark Chocolate, Raspberry Fizz
Paper: Enchanted Evening, Dark Chocolate, Raspberry Fizz and Kraft
Other: Enchanted Evening Satin ribbon, Enchanted Evening buttons, Rustic cream twine, Oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities Dies, sponge

Paint by Numbers Challenge

Happy Monday! We made it out of our house today despite the snow--which was quite necessary as we ran out of diapers! Another foot or so of snow is headed our way tomorrow, crazy!!

Being at home is rather nice though and I was able to get the time to participate in another PTI anniversary challenge! Today, we were given the sketch and assigned a color combination based on our forum username.





Orange is not a standby color for me, so this was definitely a challenge. I tried several things and ended up with this. I actually really dislike it, but at least it's done!



The card uses several background patterns from Background Basics: Retro. I added little touches with my white gel pen to add uniformity to the card. The sentiment is from Scattered Showers.

Hope you are having a nice day!
Melissa

"Congratulations" (all PTI unless noted)
Stamps: Background Basics: Retro, Scattered Showers
Ink: Raspberry Fizz, Terracotta Tile, Orange Zest, Ripe Avocado
Paper: Stamper's Select White, Ripe Avocado, Orange Zest, Terracotta Tile
Other: White gel pen (Signo), Apron Lace border punch (Fiskars), sponge, gems, Copic Marker (to color gems)

CPS 153

As part of the PTI anniversary celebrations, Papertrey Ink has teamed up with CPS this week.

Here is the sketch:


And my card:


I used Heart Prints to create a background with the words and the tiny heart using Hibiscus Burst and Sweet Blush ink. The heart background on the bottom is from Background Basics: Hearts, stamped in Taken with Teal by SU! (Please PTI, I need a turquoise!!)

Don't forget to enter a comment for my little giveaway in honor of my first year of blogging! Find the post here and enter a comment.


Thanks for having a look!
Melissa

(all PTI unless noted)
Stamps: Heart Prints, Background Basics: Hearts
Ink: Sweet Blush, Hibiscus Burst, Taken with Teal (SU!), Vintage Touch Tea Dye (Chai)
Paper: Vintage Cream, Hibiscus Burst, Taken with Teal (SU!)
Other: Hibiscus Burst satin ribbon, paper flower (Making Memories)

Love You Forever

When I saw the beautiful inspiration photo that Melissa Phillips had chosen for her latest challenge, I was very inspired to play along! I couldn't help but gravitate toward hearts seeing all the red in the photo and that Valentine's Day is coming up very soon!

There are so many great details in this photo--I based my card off the gray handwriting on the envelopes, the red and cream tags and the buttons. Here's what I came up with:

Today is my blogaversary! I have had so much fun this past year making friends through my blog, and the encouragement and support I receive for my art from you is amazing!

In gratitude to all my friends, new and old who visit me here I would like to pass on a small gift to one lucky person! I won't make you jump through any hoops--just leave me a comment on this post and you'll be entered to win. The prize is a $10 Papertrey Ink gift certificate! (If you are the winner and you are a non-stamping friend--you can opt for a $10 Amazon gift certificate) I will leave this open for a week, until February 13.

Hope you have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!

Melissa

"Love you forever" (all PTI unless noted)

Stamps: Background Basics: Text Style, Heart Prints

Ink: Smokey Shadow, Pure Poppy, Antique Linen and Walnut Stain(Ranger)

Paper: Pure Poppy, Vintage Cream, Smokey Shadow

Other: Pure Poppy twill ribbon, Rustic wood buttons, Rustic Cream twine, Apron Lace paper punch (Fiskars), die-cut label (Bo Bunny), sponge, Foam tape

Thank You

I'm back today with a card for the latest PTI anniversary challenge. Papertrey Ink is turning 3--happy birthday to one of my favorite stamp companies! The technique featured in today's challenge is embossed resist--you basically heat emboss an image and then wipe ink over it, and it will resist the ink!



I stamped a few rows of the pretty flowers from Background Basics: Petal Power with Versamark, heat embossed with clear ep and sponged Ocean Tides ink over the whole piece of card stock. Then, I stamped the "Thank You" in dark chocolate. The rest is self-explanatory, but let me know if you have any questions!

Be sure to check back this weekend--tomorrow is my blogaversary!

I also wanted to mention that my friend Jen has been blogging about her amazing journey. She won a local "biggest-loser"-style weight loss competition last spring, and is chronicling her efforts with exercise and eating right. And, there may be prizes involved! See her blog here .

Melissa

"Thank You" (all PTI unless noted)
Stamps: Background Basics: Petal Power, Big & Bold Wishes
Ink: Versamark, Dark Chocolate, Ocean Tides, Antique Linen and Walnut Stain (Ranger)
Paper: Vintage Cream, Dark Chocolate
Other: Clear Detail Embossing Powder (Filigree), sponge, Threading Water punch (Fiskars), Vintage Cream twill ribbon, pearls