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

More Christmas Cards

Fresh from the studio...







These come as a set of 8, available in my Etsy shop.