Happy Easter

I've had my Greetery order on my desk for days, and finally had time this past 

weekend to play with Betsy's Botanicuts: Lily. If you're not familiar with the

I've had my Greetery order on my desk for days, and finally had time this past 

weekend to play with Betsy's Botanicuts: Lily. If you're not familiar with the Botanicuts, it's a series of assembly dies that create a bloom. Welcome, Lily!

My husband blessed me with a Valentine bouquet that had lilies and roses, and the 

colors on the lilies were spectacular.

I wanted to try to capture the watercolor effect plus the amazing colors on each petal.

Mimicing God's creation is impossible, but we can come close with the right tools.

The pieces were 1st cut with Poppystamps' Open Studio new watercolor paper. 

It boasts a delicate finish, useful for mixed media, paper arts and card making, 

and comes in a package of 10 4.5 x 5.75" cards. Die cutting is a breeze 

with this thickness of paper.

I used my Windsor Newton tubes for this project, the colors are intense and 

transparent like no other I've found.

These are 2 of my favorite blooms for an afternoon of painting. (LOL, the first petals were 

heavy with paint, and didn't define. But I kept going until something pleased.)

I do send out Easter cards, mostly to family, and plan to more of this magical lily.

Betsy has a youtube video to help with coloring and assembly,

New Die Intro + How-to: BotaniCuts Lily

Since my palm fronds are considered leaves, I'm adding my card to 

the Flower Challenge

The Flower Challenge #41 Reminder

Did you get this die? I'm afraid to say I'm hooked on all things Greetery,

especially these Botanicuts! 

Have a blessed week!

Valentines

Hello there. Getting close to Valentines, and had some time to play with Betsy's

February release, and all the great new stamps and dies that came with my order.

I followed Dawn McVey's lead with my double background stamping and

angling the plaid stamp. Couldn't resist also double stamping the envelope flaps.

One card with red interior and sweet heart seal,

And one with double envelopes and messages and a postage stamp. 

I LOVE these sets. I understand some of them sold out, but if I were

you, I'd add them to my collection when they're restocked. I already

have plans for Easter cards, using the florals and envelopes for my

holiday cards.

The first card I made with the Ribbon Words, a birthday card.

And this one made with Poppystamps Heart Plate, used as a stencil.

The frame was made by cutting the 2 Postal frames at the same time.

Love card

We have a new challenge at the Card Concept, Cozy Cabin.

I created a Wedding or Anniversary card with Poppystamps' Simple Leaf Heart Split Border.

It's a beautiful subtle and simple die that I let shine using a wood embossing folder for the 

background.

The wedding topper in the background is from parents' wedding cake. My mom kept

it in a cabinet for years, quietly watching over the other knick knacks on the shelves.

When she was failing, she asked if I'd like to have it. Of all she passed on to me, this

sweet piece of her life of 49 years with my dad is my dearest treasure.   

Poppystamps' Valentine release is in the shop now, and this love with it's flourish tail

is among my favorites! 

The Card Concept Challenge runs for 2 weeks, and we love seeing what

inspires you from the photo.

I used the wood to inspire my Clean and Layered card. But there are many things

you could use for inspiration.

Our designers have lots more inspiration for you. 

The Card Concept #127 {Cozy Cabin} 

Supplies

2286 Simple Leaf Heart Split Border

Tag You're It: Flags!

Hi and welcome to a new Tag You're It Challenge: Flags!

Our hostess Kara Pogreba has given us this colorful inspiration photo

Can't you just feel the celebration?

Here's some more inspiration for you

All stamps and dies from Lawn Fawn. The critters, roller coaster and sentiment are

from Coaster Critters. The cloud and sun from Happy Village. First time playing

with this set and love all the images! Simply Grassy Hillsides I've used on

several projects. It's a favorite.

PTI Tasting Tag, which had a couple of holes where I didn't want them, so

I covered them with washi before die cutting.

Distress Oxide inks and Mr. Huey's Opaque White splatters on tag. A few Lindys'

starburst splatters too. 

A closeup shows where I popped up certain images.

The flags are from the Coaster Critter set. But they had a pole, which I simply snipped

off before adding glue and foam.

If you love making tags, and who doesn't? Come play along on the 

Tag You're It Challenge. I'd love to see what inspiration you come up with!

Have a great week!

Tag You're It #97

NJP

Laurie's Fabulous Favorites this week focuses on framing our sentiments.

My card took on a life of it's own when I found this monogram stamped 

panel I made a while back. 

I added the panel to a piece of card stock included in the Don't Forget

to Write set, and defined it further with Nesting Basics: Rectangle and

Nesting Basics: Pierced Rectangle.

It's been a while since I've sent a monogram card. It's a nice way to personalize a

message to someone. And it's nice to enhance the letters with framing.

I also added a few elements from Community Garden. A bit over what I 

started to create, which was cleaner and simpler. Alas, just not cards I enjoy

doing or sending ~ The more the Merrier is definitely my style ~

Laurie's challenge can be found on Ink to Paper's blog with a 100. gc for 

the winner!

Wishing You...

It's time for a new challenge at the Card Concept, and we have this 'beachy'

 scene to inspire you!

I was instantly drawn to the shells and sand on an aqua background.

I used real sand on top of a Nichole Heady Sand Swatch stamp set, so I'm

going with a Mixed Media Card. The aqua bg is a piece of 12 x 12" wood print

designer paper that I had, but it was tan colored.

To change the color to aqua I brushed on Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst: Tiffany Lou Blue.

It has a lustrous gleam in real life.

A few of PTI's raindrops look a bit like water bubbles to me, so I added them.

All PTI product today, with the exception of the dp and sand.

My list will take you to the PTI store, where they still have all stamps and dies

at a discount. 

Salt Air: Flora Stamp Set

Sand Swatch Mini Stamp Set

Papertrey Ink - Simple Seashells Die

Simple Seashells Stamp Set

Recollections White Washed Woodgrain Scrapbook Paper

Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst: Tiffany Loo Blue Spray

Beach sand

Challenge #111-Scattered Seashells

PTI January '19 Blog Hop

Welcome!

It's Blog Hop time at PapertreyInk, and we were given this inspiration:

Didn't stray far from the photo, and came up with a cake set in layers of black

& white & gold.

The stylized 'Happy Birthday' script is one of my PTI favorites!

Play along all day on the PTI blog. Always so much to inspire!

All product links take you to the PTI shop!

2018 Anniversary Stamp Set: Mixed Bouquet

Papertrey Ink - Mixed Bouquet Die

Papertrey Ink - Shape Shifters: Square 2 Die

Papertrey Ink - Bold Borders: Arabesque Die

Papertrey Ink - Noted: Scalloped A2 Die Collection (set of 9)

Paper Basics - Luxe Gold Cardstock (5 sheets)

25 Days of Christmas Tags: Day 21

It's the last day of Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas tags, and I have one more set of tags

to post.

I used Carol Mayne's set of four colorful tags for my muse.

PapertreyInk's Holiday Tag Along with Tremendous Treats: Christmas provided all the 

goodies for my tags.

Last day for posts by Tracey and her team, and all the marvelous holiday

inspiration by the companies, but you still have time to add your tags!

Check out all the details here:

25DaysTagsRedChristmas.png

Sending You Birthday Hugs

It's Laurie's turn at Papertrey's Make It Monday, and she shows us a technique 

called, 'Creating Shadow Backgrounds'.

Going through my stampsets, I ran across one that hadn't seen ink in a while,

Better Together. Just the line drawn images I thought would look good for Laurie's

tutorial. Once the bg was stamped, I used watercolor cardstock for the popped up

die cuts, and watercolored them with Zig Clean Colors.

See Laurie's video on the PTI's blog.

All PTI products are linked to the PTI store.

Better Together Stamp Set

Papertrey Ink - Better Together Die

Papertrey Ink - Birthday Cheer Die

Papertrey Ink - Noted: Simply Stitched A2 Vertical Die

Hope your week is filled with crafty goodness!