Bloom builders

I got the bloom builders die from PTI with my order last month, and after I got over the frustration of not being able to cut it correctly, I find I really love it. I had to figure out a shim with a few pieces of card stock, and I put it through my Cuttlebug 3 times, but then it pops right out. It takes me a while to assemble, but I just think it is so cute. Here is a girly card I made for a friend's birthday:

I used the cake building stamp set by Lawn Fawn for the cake. The patterned paper came from a pad I had, but I honestly can't remember who makes it. The card stock is Raspberry Fizz and Sweet Blush by PTI. Thanks for looking!

Little Bitty Bird

I just got the Little Bitty Bird set from PTI and I just love it! My husband asked me to make some thank you cards to send and I couldn't resist making one with this new set - although it is a bit girly and cutesy for a guy to send. Here's what I came up with:

   I used the mat stack #4 die, which is the first die I have ever purchased from PTI. I am pretty happy with how it turned out, all in all. The blue paper is Blueberry Sky and the ribbon is Vintage Cream - both from PTI. The patterned paper is from the Linen Collection by DCWV. Thanks for looking!

Banner Builders

I have kinda been drooling over the Banner Builders set by PTI ever since I started following them. So far my favorite technique is paper piecing, and I thought this set would be great for that. I also thought it would be a great general purpose set for lots of celebration type things. So I added it to my July release order, and I am so glad I did. Here are too cards a just made with this set:

This one is a birthday card for my husband. I tried to restrain myself on the embellishments so as not to insult his masculinity ;o) The patterned paper is by My Mind's Eye (I think - I was using scraps I had). The bases are Kraft and Ripe Avocado by PTI. The banner is from Banner Builders, obviously, and the sentiment is from Sophie's Sentiments by Lawn Fawn.

This one is for a friend of mine. This patterned paper is also from My Mind's Eye and I think it is so cute - love the colors! The bases are Vintage Cream and Hawaiian Shores by PTI. The sentiments came from PTI's new Congrats All Ways stamp set - I can tell I will be getting a lot of use out of that set!

Hanging Out

I just love the new Hanging Out stamp set by Papertrey Ink. I bought two baby sets last month so I tried to convince myself that I didn't need this one too, but it is just so darn cute. Lucky for me, lots of babies are due in the next few months, so I can make lots of cards to help work of the guilt. Here is my first attempt with this set:

I just got some Distressed Inks in the mail and have been dying to try them out. I got the tutorial on how to make clouds with the distressed ink at this website. I originally intended this to be a one layer card, but I made some mistakes and ended up needing to trim the edges off, so I just mounted it on a Sweet Blush base instead. I ended up stamping the grass for the base on top of itself a few times to fill in some gaps, and I like how it turned out. I used the Broken China Distressed Ink for the sky, Bundled Sage Distressed Ink for the grass, Hanging Out stamp set by PTI for the stamps and Pink Patterns patterned paper by PTI for the paper piecing.

A foray into Copic coloring

I have officially jumped onto the Copic coloring bandwagon. I have always loved coloring and now I have a sort of grown-up excuse to do it :o) I only have a handful of colors, but I knew that I would have the most fun coloring flowers, so I bought some shades of pinks, blues and greens. Here is my first attempt:

   I didn't really attempt any shading on this card because the images are pretty small and I'm just not that good yet, but I still like how it turned out. I just love the color combo of Berry Sorbet and Sweet Blush cardstock, which is funny because I never used to consider myself a girly sort of person. The flowers are a stamp from Hero Arts, the sentiment is from Sophie's sentiments by Lawn Fawn, and all the other supplies are from Papertrey Ink. Thanks for looking!

Wedding Season

Well, wedding season is in full swing for my family and friends, which has kept me on my toes in the card making department. This is usually when I run out of time and end up getting a store-bought card to send out, but I am determined not to do that this summer. So instead I thought I would try mass-producing some cards instead. I intended them to all be the same with just different colors, but it didn't quite work out that way. Here's what I came up with:

  I don't really have any wedding sets, so I had to improvise. The cakes were paper-pieced using Lawn Fawn's Bake Me a Cake set. I just got this set and I think it is so cute! I know it is going to get a lot of use. The sentiment is from Sophie's Sentiments. The paper on the cakes is from scraps I had laying around, and the colors are PTI's Ocean Tides, Plum Pudding and Hawaiian Shores respectively. I tried to match the color schemes to the weddings color and or theme. I am pretty happy with the way they turned out. (Please forgive my lack of photography skills, I realize the colors are off and I can't take a straight picture for the life of me so everything looks crooked). Thanks for looking! 

Tag-its

I think the tiny images from the Tag-its collection by Papertrey Ink are so cute, but I have been having a lot of trouble incorporating them into things because of the small scale. I am still new to all of this, so I am having trouble coming up with completely new ideas entirely on my own instead of CASEing ideas from other crafters, but I wanted to try. I played around with Tag-its #2 and #3 and this is what I came up with:

  I ended up scaling the size of the card down to 4 1/4 x 4 inches because it worked better. I created this little scene specifically with things my mom loves. It isn't perfect, but all-in-all I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Isn't that little heart-shaped button cute? I love the variety in PTI's button collections. Thanks for looking!

Scattered Showers stamp

I needed to make a baby shower card for my husband's co-worker, and gosh it was so much fun! I adore anything baby, but it is especially fun to make things for little girls, in my opinion. He gave me his blessing to be as girly as I wanted, so here is what I came up with:

I was espcially proud of these last two cards I made because I came up with the design on my own. Since I started stamping, I have mostly been CASEing other people's work until I got the hang of it, but I really wanted to branch out and come up with more original ideas. For this project, everything is from Papertrey Ink - the stamp set is Scattered Showers. Thanks for looking!

This begins my first attempt in the blogging world, so please pardon my less than interesting design and general lack of know-how. I've never attempted a blog until now because, quite frankly, I didn't think I had anything worth saying (and honestly, I still don't!) However, as I have become more involved in papercrafting I thought it would be fun to have a blog to keep track of my progress and so I could join in the fun at blog hops and contests. So here is the very first project I am posting:

I made this card with supplies from Papertrey Ink. - the paper is Ocean Tides and Vintage Cream, the ribbon and buttons are True Black, and the stamps are from the anniversary set and the Mehndi Medallion. I just cut the Vintage cream shape with the Storybook cartridge for the Cricut Expression and I stamped the background with Versamark ink. I am pretty happy with how it turned out, all in all. I can tell this is going to be a very time consuming (and expensive!) hobby, but I can't wait to learn more!