PTI May 2014 Blog Hop

Color challenges are my favorite so using the Aqua Mist-Melon Berry combo for this month's was very inspiring. I had all sorts of grand plans and ideas brewing but in the end time and life's circumstances got in the way this week so I only had time to make two cards yesterday.

I was very tempted to use the Life is Beautiful butterflies but I knew I'd be seeing a lot of them around the Hop today. I wanted to make two very different type of cards with this color combination.

First card uses the largest Delicate Details die. I randomly smeared Aqua Mist and Melon Berry inks on a white card stock panel which I then die cut. The Delicate Details die surprisingly cuts easily (I tend to be weary of intricate dies) if you run it through your machine with a couple of passes. Only a few pieces that I had to punch out thankfully.

I embossed the sentiment from Think Big Favorites in white on a banner of vellum which I draped across the center of the die cut. I love that the details of the die can still be seen through the vellum.

My second card has a more graphic feel.

I found three arrow dies still wired together (can't remember what set this is from!) so I die cut it three times on the card front. I paired these arrows with an inspirational sentiment from Building Blocks. I scattered a few enamel dots in charcoal and aqua mist to draw the eye down the sentiment.

Great weather here today! Looking forward to hanging out with friends later. DH is off from military duty today so we're blessed to spend the day with him today. May we all remember the fallen soldiers and their sacrifices which helped grant us the freedom to spend our days as we want to.

Looking forward to seeing everyone's creations on the Hop later. Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great weekend!

CASology #96

What a great CUE word this week at CASology! Flowers are on my mind as I look out my window and see my beautiful bright pink azaleas and purple rhododendron in full bloom.

These flowers are from the new Oopsie Daisy PTI set. I'm excited to play with these more as there are so many design possibilities. Colors inspired by the fun bright palette at ColourQ this week.

Quick share today. Lots of fun stuff planned with friends this weekend. I'm a little behind with reading and commenting on blog posts this week...hopefully will get to them sometime this long weekend.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a good weekend too.

ColourQ #242

I have to admit that the bright colors at ColourQ scared me a bit...that is, until I got PTI Summer Sweetness in the house! Those colors were perfect for this fun set.

I stamped two rows of popsicles and masked a portion to stamp the sticks. I also added a few melting droplets next to each stamping twice without reinking.

I have lots of other ideas for this set and can't wait to play some more.

Thanks for stopping by!

CCMC #21

Spring is in the air and everyone has flowers and butterflies on the mind it seems.

Guess I had it on my mind too since I couldn't wait to play with the PTI Life is Beautiful butterflies. I don't have the stamp set yet but the dies are just wonderful.

I layered one of the intricate cut butterflies in Scarlet Jewel on top of a solid one cut out of Aqua Mist. The result is so pretty, almost looks like the butterfly has a shadow. I stamped an Aqua Mist square from Bitty Background Blocks in the corner to ground the butterfly and the sentiment is from Words of Comfort stamped in Dark Chocolate. Colors inspired by the pretty subtle palette at Colour Me this week.

I've been feeling a bit under the weather with the cold I caught from my girls but nothing made me happier than happy mail from PTI this week! Hope you are having a great week. Thanks for visiting!

Two For Saturday

Got a quiet weekend with the family planned this weekend. Its been a while since we've got a chance to just BE and not have to run to this and that, cook and entertain and be on the go. So before the weekend gets underway I wanted to share two cards.

First card is a small card using AMuse notecards I've been hoarding. Love that they are pre folded, smaller, and the inside is already white so I don't have to line the card stock. Inspiration came from this week's CASology challenge SPLASH. I used a fish image from Tiny Treats Valentines and added a circle from Sketched Shapes for the water.

Next card is for the ColourMe: Striking challenge which features a dark blue and a curry color. LOVE this color combination as it is good for both masculine and feminine cards. PTI released a new butterfly set this week with big open area wings which reminded me of this
old Hero Arts wooden butterfly stamp I have. I colored in some of the wing with dark yellow perfect pearls and added a glitter enamel dot. Die cut Hello is from PTI Phrase play. Sweet and simple I think.

Thanks for visiting and hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Make It Monday #164 & ColourQ #241

I haven't played along with Papertrey's Make It Monday challenge in a while but had to try this week's Clustered Stamp Sentiment technique.

I embossed the sentiment from Think Big favorites in clear on white card stock then stamped a variety of dots from the Bits & Buttons mini stamp set and Polka Dot Basics3. Colors were inspired by this week's ColourQ challenge.

This technique was fun and easy though for me the hardest part was mixing up the colors just right and making the dots that stem from the clustered sentiment appear random and floating.
Will have to try my hand at this technique again with different stamps and colors. The variety is endless!

Colors a little off in the pic....its very cloudy here in NJ and I'm using my phone to take the pics. Misplaced my little handy point and shoot. Ugh. Hoping it will turn up soon!

Thanks for visiting. Hope you are having a good day!

Two Cards to Share

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and Mother's Day. We went away for the weekend to visit my husband who is on military duty. It was nice to get away and not have to cook and clean up for a day or two. And we even got to go to a local flea market for a few hours since it was MY day and they all joined in without complaint even though I KNOW it was the last thing they wanted to do.

Before I left I had a chance to make two cards that I want to share with you today.

This first card features another metal embellishment I had in my stash for the METAL CASology challenge. I paired it with the Simple Stars cover plate which I cut out in dark blue shimmer card stock and backed it with silver shimmer card stock to keep the metal/silver theme going. The pictures don't do this shimmer card stock justice honestly. Its looks so pretty in real life. I also popped up a few stars with foam squares for interest.

Next card uses a Penny Black scene stamp that I won last year but never used. I wanted to echo the color scheme at the Fusion Card challenge this week so I lightly watercolored a yellow background and embossed the scene in black on top. The bottom sentiment is from PTI City Scene sentiments.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week.

Three More Cards

I have three more cards I want to share with you this evening from my marathon craft night yesterday.

First card is a thank you card inspired by the monochromatic color scheme at Colour Me this week.

I wanted to pair the cherry cobbler with grays as my neutral though my first instinct was to use kraft. I die cut two large banners out of patterned paper from X, offset and cut them to make room for my white embossed sentiment. I added a few cherry enamel dots because well, I love them!

For my next card I used the relatively new PTI Sketched Stars dies in Aqua Mist and Enchanted evening. I paired it with the dotted star trail in Harvest Gold from Super Stars and added the sentiment from Simple Stars. Card design inspired by this week's sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch.

My final card is from Watercolors for Cardmakers Day 1 using the Vibrant Watercolor Wash Background technique demonstrated by Laura Bassen. She uses an acrylic block to apply the watercolor to her paper. I loved the way she had a white border around so I used a smaller block and applied the color just to the center. Sentiment is from PTI Half and Half and card base is PTI Tropical Teal which I haven't used much yet.

That's it for me tonight. Thanks for stopping by!