PTI Anniversary Day 1 - Favorite project of 2010

I have just loved using Papertrey Ink's dies and impression plates this year.  What did we ever do without them?  My favorite project of the year was this little autumnal card that used the Leaf Prints collection coordinating dies.  I die cut the leaves from Dotty Biscotti patterned paper and then ran them face down through my Xyron create-a-sticker.  Then I added glitter to the leaves and adhered them to a mat of Simply Chartreuse that I impressed with the Linen and Canvas impression plate.  The little sentiment is from Limitless Labels.  For some reason this card just makes me happy!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~Mindy

PTI Blog Hop and Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy T-day!  This months Papertrey Ink Blog Hop challenge was to share some holiday tags.  Of course this was pretty easy for me, because I've been making tags like crazy this year!  I love PTI's new tag dies... so much nicer than my old tag punch that gets stuck about every other time I use it.  The lighting in my house is terrible today (it's drizzling rain) so I apologize for these pictures.  No time for perfection today... too much cooking to get done for the big Thanksgiving lunch!

 

For these tags I used Tag Die #2 and plum pudding cardstock for the base.  Then I stamped the text from Background Basics: Christmas using Versamark and added a damask image over that with Hawaiian Shores.  I then added the "to" and "from" at the bottom and a bit of aqua lace from my own stash near the top.  The ornaments are cut from felt using a Vintage Ornament die.  I finished them off with a plum pudding button and some silk ribbon that I colored with a Copic marker.

If you're in the USA I hope you have a wonderful holiday!  I will leave you with a shot of my sweet potato and mascarpone cheesecake with amaretti cookie crust.  Yum.

Thanks for visiting!
~Mindy

October PTI Blog Hop

Time for another blog hop with Papertrey Ink!  This month's challenge:  "Create a project that celebrates Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or some other winter holiday as we embrace everyone's beliefs in a celebration of diversity through paper crafting."

I decided to make a very non-traditional menorah using the foliage image from Life and the snowflake image from Holiday Tree.  I used silver embossing powder and some tiny rhinestones to add some sparkle.  The sentiment is from Signature Christmas (though this one works well for any winter holiday).  I colored the ribbon using Copics.

(click image to enlarge)

Thanks for stopping by!

~Mindy

Blog hopping at the beach!

Time again for Papertrey Ink's monthly bloghop!  This month I'm posting from the beach... I'm here on vacation with my family for a little relaxation and fishing.  I can't believe it's still so hot this late in September!

This month's challenge was to create a project using inspiration from another stamper.  I decided to make a card using some inspiration from the lovely Dawn McVey.   She has recently made several cards with layers of scallops cut with PTI's scalloped border dies and I just love the ruffles!  Here are some of her posts with the layers of scalloped borders:

http://dawnmcvey.typepad.com/these_are_a_few_of_my_fav/2010/08/color-couture-embellies-volumes-7-8-9-day-2.html

http://dawnmcvey.typepad.com/these_are_a_few_of_my_fav/2010/04/for-a-dear-friend.html

http://dawnmcvey.typepad.com/these_are_a_few_of_my_fav/2010/03/introducing-delightful-dahlia.html

http://dawnmcvey.typepad.com/these_are_a_few_of_my_fav/2010/03/ruffles-ruffles-more-ruffles.html

And here is the card I made with inspiration from Dawn's projects:

  
I used Delightful Dahlia for the background and sentiment.  Can't wait to deliver this to a friend on her wedding day next month.


Thanks for stopping by, and I'll leave you with a beach pic I took Thursday night after we arrived -

~Mindy

Papertrey July Blog Hop Challenge

It's time for the monthly blog hop with Papertrey Ink!  It's been a while since I've had a chance to participate.  Tonight's challenge was to use office supplies on our project.  I searched and searched but we really didn't have many "office" supplies that were suitable to use on a card, so I decided to use a safety pin.  Does that count?  Haha!

What do you think of my little diaper?  I'll show you how I used the new Mat Stack 3 die to create it.

First I cut the half-circle portion off.

Then I adhered the half circle to the bottom.

Lastly I flipped the whole thing over and cut off the excess with my craft knife.

Ta-da!  A diaper.  I don't remember where I got these pastel colored safety pins but they work great for baby projects.

To finish off the card I added a little order ticket and a sentiment from the new stamp set It's Official.  I hand wrote a list of baby supplies on the ticket and added the "Special Delivery" sentiment from Favor it Baby.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Mindy

PTI Blog Hop and Tissue Paper

OK at 7pm I realized it was the 25th... time for PaperTrey Ink's monthly blog hop!  The theme tonight is tissue paper, so I sprinted up to my studio and whipped up this quick card using all my newest goodies!  The flower is is made of layers of punched tissue paper, stamped with the new Woodgrain stamp set.  I also used the woodgrain impression plate on the kraft paper background and die cut some leaves.  Enjoy the hop!

Floral Embellishments

I created these cute floral embellishments a while back, but decided to make some more for today's challenge over at Nichole Heady's blog.



The flowers are created by punching them from cardstock, crumpling them up and then distressing the edges and wrinkles with Papertrey Ink's Chai ink.



I got the fabric covered brads at Hobby Lobby but buttons work great too.



Happy embellishing!
~Mindy

Emboss Resist

Nichole Heady at Papertrey Ink reminded us of this cool technique today on her blog.



The coffee mug is heat embossed with clear embossing powder. Then the Terracotta Tile ink was added over the image using a sponge and a circular motion. Finally you just buff away the excess ink from the embossed image.



It looks sparkly in these pics with the sunlight coming in (bouncing off all the snow in the yard, no doubt). The tag was punched from one of PTI's notepads. The background words and mug are from Warm Happiness and the sentiment is from Mega Mixed Messages.



Stay warm!
~Mindy

Happy 3rd Birthday to Papertrey Ink -- card #2

Papertrey Ink is turning 3! Today's challenge was to download birthday embellishments provided by the design team and use them in a card. My second card uses the download from Dawn McVey's blog.



Check out Dawn's video tutorial on making these poofy paper flowers!



Good luck everyone!
~Mindy

Happy 3rd birthday to Papertrey Ink -- card #1

Papertrey Ink is turning 3! Today's challenge was to download birthday embellishments provided by the design team and use them in a card. My first card uses the graphic designed by Niki Estes.



I added some Stickles to make the birthday present sparkly. :)



On to my next card!
~Mindy

Cards... inside and out

Time for another blog hop with Papertrey Ink! This month's challenge was to be creative with the insides of cards since they tend to be neglected. I've been working on a few Valentine's Day cards so I thought I'd share those.



This card features Background Basics: Hearts. I clear-embossed one pattern on the main card and used another pattern on the bottom portion.



I kept the inside simple with a third heart pattern across the bottom and a sentiment from Life.



I've been loving Dawn McVey's video tutorials. I recently learned to make these poofy paper flowers following her instructions.



Heartfelt Basics is one of my favorite go-to sets for the insides of cards. I added a little heart to carry over the theme from the outside of the card.



On the next card I used a bit of one of PTI's notepads fixed at a jaunty angle.



The repeated "thinking of you" is from Around & About Sentiments.



For the inside of this one I repeated the jaunty-angled notepaper.



Finally, I busted out the old favorite My Punny Valentine. I'm pretty excited about the 5 punched hearts I added to this one. The lace border punch is from Martha Stewart.






I used the "strawberry" heart stamp from the same set on the inside.



Thanks for stopping by!
~Mindy

Embellishments from scraps

I made a rare visit to Hobby Lobby the other day (I don't have one near my house) and picked up a couple new flower punches and some fun covered button brads. I decided to used up some of the scraps of Papertrey cardstock I had lying around and make a few crumpled flower embellishments similar to the ones Dawn McVey demonstrated on her blog last summer.



I put them all on a card, thinking I might sell them in my Etsy shop. But I like them so much I may just keep them for myself!



I just love these springy colors together. I think I'm tired of winter already!



Happy New Year!
Mindy

November Blog Hop -- Quick Gift Card Holder

It's time for Papertrey Ink's monthly Blog Hop! This months challenge was to create a quick gift wrap or tag. I decided to try out the Cash or Charge #3 template.




I stamped leaves from Turning a New Leaf with Versamark on the main part of the template. Then I made a little insert with slotted corners and stamped the "Holiday Cheer" sentiment from Holiday Treats all over it.



Finally, I added a little circle tag stamped with the Holiday Cheer sentiment and tied it all closed with some gold wired ribbon I got for $1 last year after Christmas. Easy!






Happy Thanksgiving!!
~Mindy