Make it Monday #68

This week's Make it Monday is about making pocket cards. I have never tried this before, and I found it to be so much fun! I have a ton of ideas running through my head, so I'll see if I can make some more of these later on. For now, here is my project:

And here is what the insert looks like:

Here is a close-up of the sandals - I popped the straps up on foam adhesive, but it is hard to see in the pictures:

   I just love those little sandals. The patterned paper is from the Aqua Mist patterned paper pack from PTI. The flourishes and sandals were stamped in Raspberry Fizz ink. The sandals and sentiment are from the new Flipping Out set, and the twine is from The Twinery. Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday # 67 - part 2

I really love using patterned papers, so I decided to make another card for PTI's Make It Monday challenge. My husband bought me a sewing machine for Christmas because I love the stitching people do on their cards so much, but this weekend is the first time I have had the time to pull it out and use it. My stitching on this card is so messy, but I love the colors, so I thought I would post it anyway:

I can tell that using stitching on cards is going to be my new favorite thing. This patterned paper is from the Picadilly pack by Basic Grey. I just love the soft colors and patterns. I used Lemon Tart paper for the mat under sentiment, but I distressed it a bit with Pumice Stone Distress Ink so that it isn't quite so bright. The sentiment is from one of the Heart-to Heart sets by PTI. I need to learn how to turn corners so neatly when sewing like other bloggers do. Thanks for visiting!

Papertrey May Blog Hop Challenge

This is my first month participating in the PTI blog hop, and I have gotta be honest - when I saw some of the submissions this morning, I almost chickened out and didn't post. However, I had already made my card and I decided it is now or never. Here is the inspiration photo:

I didn't have a lot of time to work on this project, so I kept mine pretty simple. Here is my card:

   I really love the colors for this challenge. I think I will try this color combo later, but try to take it in a more elegant direction like many of the other crafters did. I have so many ideas in my head after scrolling through some of the fabulous projects! I have really been missing out by not participating in the blog hops before. Thanks for visiting!

Make it Monday #67

I have really had fun playing along with PTI's Make it Monday challenges. I had never participated in any challenges before, and this is really helping me get out of my rut and try new things. This week's challenge was to use 3 or more background papers. Here is my project:

    Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday #66

I really wanted to play along with PTI's Make it Monday this week, but I don't own any border dies at all, if you can believe that. So I had to use some rolled flower dies that I have (and I had to add some border dies to my cart...). I hope it is OK that I played along with the challenge anyway. Here is the card I came up with:

  
    The patterned papers I chose are a bit out of my comfort zone, but I am happy with how they turned out. I can't remember where I saw someone make a card with a tag as a focal point, but I CASed that idea. Thanks for visiting!

Make it Monday # 65

This is my first attempt at a Make it Monday challenge. I have just been so stuck in a rut with crafting lately, so I decided to get out of my rut and actually participate rather than just watching the videos and stalking all the beautiful submissions. I had a really hard time with this challenge of using 5 different patterns. I just don't naturally have an eye for color and pattern combos. Here is my project (after lots of time spent pushing other scraps around...)

The colors aren't as vivid here as they are in real life, but all the papers came from a new pad I just got called Little Black Dress from Basic Grey. You can't see it well in the photo, but I aged the edges of the mat stack die cut with Pumice Stone Distress Ink. I am a bit addicted to collecting patterned paper, and I think I will have to use this technique again sometime soon to actually use some of it instead of just hoarding it. Thanks for looking!

Reviving the blog

It has been ages since I have posted on here, I think mainly because I am so intimidated by all the amazing stampers I get inspiration from. But my original point was to use this blog to participate in challenges, so I am going to start doing that. Until then, here are some cards I have been working on lately. I just got the Background: Medallions set from PTI, and I love it. I have been using it to make some simple cards that I hope to put into sets for some friends:

I also finally purchased the Turning a New Leaf stamp set that has been on my wish list forever, and I think it is perfect for masculine cards. Here is one I made for my grandfather:

   
I have really been enjoying the new inks that PTI is coming out with and am finding it much easier to make cards that coordinate with the variety of ink colors available. My next task is learning how to photograph my cards better. Thanks for looking!