Pedal Pusher Christmas

Christmas morning at the house I grew up in started early – way before the sun came up.  This (new to me) stamp set from Papertrey Ink brought back memories of that magical morning when I pulled it out to use today.  Bikes and Christmas go together for me both from my childhood and my professional life as a clinical social worker in the public setting.  Kids always seem to want a bike for Christmas, and I’ve seen it over the years on many kids’ Christmas wish list my own included.  So, it looks like I’m getting my 2019 Christmas card stash off to an early start!  Of course, my favorite color red came into play so I had to make a Christmas card. I’m also working on the Win It Wednesday challenge over at the PTI blog; the challenge was to use a favorite accessory from PTI.  I chose to use the button twine.  Since getting my DreamBox, I think I’ll be seeing and using twine, ribbons and buttons more as they are right there at my fingertips!  Here is my list of products used.   

·      Stamp set(s):  PTI – Pedal Pusher Stamp Set   

·      Ink(s):  PTI – Pure Poppy, True Black, Classic Kraft, Pinefeather

·      Paper:  PTI – Classic Kraft, Watercolor paper from stash

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  PTI – Pedal Pusher Dies, Ways To Say: Merry Christmas

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  PTI – Sunburst Stencil, Button Twine; Tattered Angels – Glimmer Mist Gold;  VIVA Inka Gold – 3D Paint Gold; Spica Pen – Red

I wanted to do something interesting for the background to make the bike pop off of the Classic Kraft cardstock.  I decided to use the sunburst stencil and gold Glimmer Mist to create that early morning excitement of Christmas morning sunrises.  Such happy memories of those magical mornings.  It may seem odd to be creating Christmas cards so soon after Christmas, but this stamp set just brought it out.  I’ve been meaning to get this set for a few years since its release in May 2013, but you know how the new releases are just so tempting.  I never got it, but with the changes happening over at PTI, I knew I needed to get it while they still had it soooo…. This is the result

I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed your trip to my blog today.  Please stop by anytime you have a chance!

Many Blessings,

Donna

Triple Threat Treat!

I’ve had a busy couple of days in my craftroom. On Sunday, my husband and I put together a variable height table from IKEA that I can move up and down depending upon what I’m doing in my craftroom at any particular time.  Also, my daughter and I are thinking about opening an Etsy shop after she gets back from her mission trip on board the Mercy Hospital ship in June.  So, I’m making cards for that and an occasional one for other needs in the family. I’ve got an anniversary coming up soon along with some special birthdays in the next couple of months!

         I’ve got three cards for you today.  For the first two I stamped the card front a few weeks ago but I’m just now getting around to putting it onto card fronts; the other I stamped yesterday for my daughter to send to a friend of hers who has had a rough 6 months.  So, let’s start with the two that I stamped the card front.  I watched a Jennifer McGuire video a month or so ago about stamping a card front and then cutting it at an angle to give you two pieces to place on two card fronts.  One stamping session equals two cards.  She used a turnabout stamp set from Concord & 9^thand so did I.  Mine is one that I got a while ago and hadn’t used yet.  I really like how these turned out.  I switched it up a bit from Jennifer on these two but I really like the results. The details are below! 

·      Stamp set(s):  Concord & 9^th– Blooms Fill In SS; MFT – All Occasion Sentiments SS  

·      Ink(s):  Papertrey Ink – Lemon Tart, Royal Velvet, Plum Pudding, Winter Wisteria, Lilac Grace, Lavender Moon, Prairie Grass, Olive Twist

·      Paper:  PTI – Lavender Moon, Stampers’ Select White

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  PTI – Nesting Basics: Pierced Rectangle Die

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  Pretty Pink Posh – Enchanted Garden 4mm & Lemon Meringue 6mm sequins; Pentel – Sunburst Metallic Gel Pen Gold

Now onto my third card for this post.  This was a fun card for me to do.  I wanted it to be an encouraging card for my daughter’s friend and playful as well.  I’ve been ordering some of Dawn McVey’s Raspberry Suite Design products from Papertrey Ink since she left the company after their January release.  One of the ones I ordered was this stamp set – Friendly Flowers!  Such a fun set to play with.  Here are the details for my card!

·      Stamp set(s):  PTI – Friendly Flowers SS 

·      Ink(s):  PTI – Harvest Gold, Summer Sunrise, Green Parakeet, New Leaf, Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, Royal Velvet

·      Paper:  PTI – Stampers’ Select White, Summer Sunrise

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  PTI – Friendly Flowers Dies; MFT – Hello Die

That’s it for today.  I’m so happy to be back crafting.  My updated craft space really does make it so much easier to create. Everything is so easy to access and see so that it gets used!  And easily put away without much hassle so it gets done!  J Such a joy to be in here now! Here’s to a blessed week for all of us!

Many Blessings,

Donna

You've Got Mail!

My almost 4-year-old granddaughter loves to get mail from her Nanny. I’ve sent her a couple of cards recently which she keeps on display in her room.  BE STILL MY HEART!!!  So, when I was thinking of what to get ready to send her another card, I thought about these sweet Pure Innocence stamps sets from My Favorite Things Stamps.  So, I pulled them out and colored this one up with my Copic markers.  Isn’t she the cutest little mail delivery person ever???  Can you find where I used my red Copic marker?

·      Stamp set(s):  MFT - Pure Innocence You’ve Got Mail SS  

·      Ink(s):  Distress Oxide – Broken China; Versafine Claire - Nocturne

·      Paper:  PTI – Stamper’s Select White; MFT – Plaid Patterns 6x6 pad

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  PTI – To the Point Edgers and Skinny Mini Banners Dies; MFT – Up in the Air and Pure Innocence You’ve Got Mail Die-Namics

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  Wink of Stella – Clear

I’m going to post this on PTI’s Win It Wednesday challenge for the week of February 20 – 27.  It’s about using stand-alone dies.  While the focal image isn’t a PTI product, I love the way that I can use PTI’s Skinny Mini Banners dies for all those little sentiments we all have in our stash.  I also used another stand-alone die to create the hillside behind our precious little mail carrier.  When we can use our products across all of our collection, it makes them an even better value!  I’ll also post this for the Daily Marker 30 Day challenge, Day 24!

Copic markers used on this project

Hoping you’re having an awesome Sunday.  The sum is actually out here in NC!  AND, we are supposed to see it all of this week!  Yippee!!!!  We’ve had a very wet 12+ months here and we are due some sunshine!  Have a great week everyone!  

Many Blessings,

Donna

PTI Favorite Cardstock Challenge

Win It Wednesdays with PTI

         I’m doing this kind of on the spur of the moment, but I did want to get my thoughts out here about my favorite colors of PTI’s cardstock.  Red is favorite color of all time, and Pure Poppy is a luscious red.  Bold and bright but not too overwhelming and pair it with Classic Kraft cardstock and both are winners in a big way.  The Heartfelt Creations Decorative Lace Border die which I cut out in Pure Poppy has been on my desk top for several weeks.  When I saw this WIW challenge, I knew I had to use it and pair it with the classic kraft cardstock.  I’ve always loved these two together anyway.  But what to put with it!?  I decided to use shades of blue flowers for a red, not-quite-white and blue look.

·      Stamp set(s):  PTI – Gran’s Garden SS, Sincerely Yours: Sending Joy SS

·      Ink(s):  Spring Rain, Blueberry Sky, Enchanted Evening, New Leaf, Bright Buttercup, Pure Poppy

·      Paper:  PTI – Classic Kraft, Pure Poppy, Stamper’s Select white  

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  Heartfelt Creations – Decorative Lace Border Die; PTI – Gran’s Garden Dies & Skinny Mini Banners Die

I’m enjoying how this turned out.  It’s sort of a rustic look to red, white and blue. Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

Many Blessings,

Donna

The Daily Marker 30 Day Geranium

It took a while due to a hectic schedule and a migraine, but here is the finished product in card form!  Water coloring definitely has a learning curve, and I’m right at the beginning of the curve! LOL  But I did enjoy the process and got better with my new Arteza Real Brush Markers as time went by!  Overall, I’m fairly pleased with the outcome.  I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to free hand watercolor as I still don’t draw really well.  My guess is the ability to do both goes hand in hand!  Just as long as I can color and mostly stay between the lines, I’ll be happy with water coloring.  The key to me is to enjoy the process and not get tied up in knots about being perfect. I knew that reds in Copic Markers are bleeders, and I’d say that that is true of red watercolors.  Just saying!  Even when I’d been careful to not wet across the line, that red ran away from home!  I do want to say, that the Power Poppy image was fun to color.  It’s beautifully drawn and digitized.  I might have had some better luck with the running of the reds if I’d been able to get my older printer to print out some of the heavier cardstock.  As it is, this is a fairly light water color paper from Archivers (now out of business for several years!  Should tell you something about my stash!).

·   Stamp set(s):  Power Poppy – Geranium digital stamp; PTI – Counting My Blessings SS (inside sentiment) 

·      Ink(s):  Versafine Clair - Nocturne

·      Paper:  Archivers – watercolor paper; PTI – Limeade Ice, True Black; Paper Studio – Black Glitter Paper

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  PTI – Counting My Blessings Die; Spellbinders – Card Creator A-2 Matting Basics A 

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  Arteza Real Brush Watercolor pens – A118, A101, A107, A140, A154, A126, A146; Pretty Pink Posh – 6mm Raspberry Sequins; 4mm Mossy Green Sequins

I liked these markers for me.  They’re very similar to my set of 24 Zig Real Brush Markers but they had the set of 48 on sale at 65% off.  So I took the plunge from an Instagam ad.  The red is really rich and intense which I didn’t really have in my Zigs. For a beginner in the watercolor arena these real brush pens were a good price point though I don’t know how much actual color is in each brush.  I think they are a good investment for me at the beginning of the learning curve!

Thank you for stopping by my blog!  I appreciate your visit!

Many Blessings,

Donna

Vintage Turn-about Birthday

            I had originally done this card for Color Throw Down #527 but didn’t get it made in time.  Due to the business of the last few weeks and doing all of my Valentine’s cards, I’m just now getting around to posting this card to my blog.  I really liked the way this one turned out and have it now in my stash of completed cards!  I chose the W Plus 9 stamp set because I’ve always loved these florals, and I wanted to experiment with using other stamps sets I already have with Gina K’s brilliant wreath builder stencils.  I like the way this card turned out!  It would be easy to make multiple cards at the same time with the stencil and any set in your collection that has smaller type of images.  I just wished that I had rounded the corners of the wreath image to mimic the roundness of the flowers!  Next Time!  Here is what I used but feel free to substitute the colors that you have in your craftroom! 

·      Stamp set(s):  W Plus 9 – Very Vintage Floral SS

·      Ink(s):  PTI – Dark Indigo, New Leaf, Weathervane

·      Paper:  Stampers Select White, New Leaf, Dark Indigo

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  Cottage Cutz – Happy Birthday Dies

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  Gina K – Wreath Builder Stencil, 4”; Nuvo – Crystal Drops Gloss-Simply White; DMC – Color Infusions, Silver; Stash – Gray Button

I had finished the card but I still thought that it lacked a bit of oomph and dimension.  I pulled out my Nuvo drops and added some “white berries” to the gray sprigs.  That just seemed to do it.  A tip I learned here:  DO NOT try to dry these drops with your heat gun!  They blow up and pop with heat.  Be patient!  Patience pays off.  Thankfully, not many of them “exploded” on me.  I’m still able to use the card since the drops are fairly small!

Thank you for stopping by to take a look!  I’d love to hear from you if you’re so inclined!

Many Blessings,

Donna

Stitching Up a Garden of Thanks

I’m participating in Papertrey Ink’s inaugural Win It Wednesdays with Laurie’s Fabulous Favorites! This is a new feature for PTI since they announced some changes to their lineup on February 1^st! Laurie’s card with its black and white background caught my eye.  My favorites from PTI are their floral stamp sets and dies.  As my one of many favorites, I brought out Betsy Veldman’s Stitching Garden stamp set and dies.  These are lovely multi-step stamping images with lots of gorgeous detail!  I used Laurie’s card as an inspiration and new the Bold Borders: Diagonal Die which gave me that same graphic look as the black and white stripes on her card.  I spent an afternoon experimenting with ink colors and layering them on the flowers and leaves.  I chose my greens for a spring green effect!  This larger bloom was one of my favorite combinations – you might see the yellow version cropping up soon on another card!  It was stunning as well! I’m going to miss Betsy’s style and her designs on the PTI team!

·      Stamp set(s): PTI – Stitching Garden SS 

·      Ink(s):  PTI – Aqua Mist, Tropical Teal, Hawaiian Shores, Bright Buttercup, Green Parakeet, New Leaf

·      Paper:  PTI – True Black, Stampers’ Select White; Paper Studio – Black Glitter CS 

·      Dies & Embossing folders:  PTI – Stitching Garden Dies, Bold Borders: Diagonal Stripe

·      Embellishments/Other things of note:  Verve – Sequin Mix

Although you can’t see it very well, I stacked a glitter die cut on top the True Black “Thanks” die cut to give my card front a little more “umph”!  The additional layer gives it a hint of sparkle that I love as well as some additional dimension.  I added a few sequins to help guide the eye across the card to complete the look.  Simple but classy is what I was going for, and I think I got that right on this card!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog.  Leave a comment if you feel so inclined.  I’d love to know that you visited me here!

Many Blessings,

Donna