What I Do Instead of Laundry

I thought I'd try this technique again...embossing in white, then coloring over with Copics.  The colors end up so vibrant, so I thought I'd use it on this detailed Mega Mehndi Medallion set. Paper: PTI Blueberry Sky, True Black Ink: Versamark, Versafine Onyx Stamps: PTI Mega Mehndi Medallion, Think Big Favorites Other: White Filigree Embossing Powder, Copic Markers, PTI Harvest Gold satin ribbon

Laura Bassen is a genius.  I always love her cards.  She is particularly known for her plaids, and she recently had a tutorial, so I thought I'd try it out.  I love the result! Paper: PTI Berry Sorbet, White, Harvest Gold Ink: PTI Berry Sorbet, Summer Sunrise, Harvest Gold, Aqua Mist Stamps: Impression Obsession Borders, PTI Big and Bold Wishes Other: PTI Aqua Mist twill tape, Mat Stack die, Sakura Stardust pen-red

Just got this new Irresistibly Ikat set from PTI.  It's a bit of a stretch for me, but I am loving it.  My first card deserved some bright colors.  I used Distress inks for this, and I needed a ribbon to match, so I swiped the Ripe Persimmon pad over some white grosgrain.  Love.  The blue label is also a white piece of cardstock swiped with Broken China ink. Paper: PTI White Ink: Distress: Broken China and Ripe Persimmon Stamps: PTI Irresistibly Ikat Other: PTI Fresh Snow Grosgrain ribbon, Fillable Frames #1 die, Fabulous Frames die, dimensional tape

I just got this stamp from Hero Arts, and I think it's going to be a favorite!  I also found a cardstock where Copics will not show through.  Amazing.  It's Gina K's Pure Luxury .  It's so heavy, so be careful not to crack it when it's folded, but it's lovely.  It's smoother than PTI White, so the Copics don't absorb the same way--hence the no show-through.  I was finally able to make a one-layer, colored card (so of course, I've made 5 of them). Paper: Gina K Pure Luxury White Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers Stamps: Hero Arts Delicate Blossoms, Mint Motif Very Square Sentiments

Going through the scrap bin again.  I had put this flower card front together and left it alone because I couldn't figure out how to finish it.  The petals are made from the leaves from PTI's Sending You dies and a circle punch.  I finally finished it off with a "stem" stamped with white ink.  I suppose this card could be vertical as well.  And I must say that I love the color Summer Sunrise in real life, but photographing it is a nightmare! Paper: PTI White, Summer Sunrise, Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, New Leaf Ink: Colorbox White Stamps: PTI Birthday Bssics Other: PTI Sending You dies, Sunrise Impression Plate, 1/2" circle punch

Going through my scrap box again...I had cut this card base a while ago, and it just sat.  I picked it up and decided to make a baby/little boy card for my stash.  I love this color combo. Paper: PTI Blueberry Sky, Pure Poppy, Men of Life PP Ink: PTI Blueberry Sky, Copic markers, Versamark Stamps: PTI Bitty Baby Blessings Other: PTI Edgers #4 die, circle punches, white Filigree embossing powder

One of the things that has helped me get out of my lost mojo rut has been to dig through my scraps bin.  I know you have one, too--the half-finished cards, the stamped/cut images sitting so forlorn!  I am going through and using up what I have, and I must say that it has been great to look at these pieces with new eyes. I had used this glitter technique with this birdie image a long time ago, and although it's not perfect, I couldn't throw it away.  I also had this leftover chevron panel from practicing for this card .  I just bought this little stamp from Verve and thought it was a great fit, so I embossed it in white. Paper: PTI White, SU Not Quite Navy, Scor-Tape sheets Ink: Versamark, SU Going Gray Stamps: Verve-Hope Perches, PTI Background Basics Chevron Other: PTI Peace Be Still Die, Edgers #4 die, white Filigree EP, silver ribbon from stash, dimensional tape, superfine glitter, rhinestone sticker

Have you heard about Mama Elephant stamps?  Oh, they are fantastic!  Such clever designs, and great quality stamps.  For this card I used the scrolly "tree" stamp from Believe in Magic , a snowglobe set.  I just repeated it to make this damask pattern.  And can you tell that I like this layout? ;) Paper: PTI White, True Black, Berry Sorbet Ink: PTI Berry Sorbet, Versafine Onyx Stamps: Mama Elephant Believe in Magic, PTI Fillable Frames Sentiments Other:  PTI Framed Out #7 die, Black satin ribbon

I love, love, love PTI's Year of Flowers: Violets!  I am so very excited about the announcement that there will be dies available very soon!  I can't tell you how many times I have hand cut those things. Today's card uses an idea from Debbie Olson, many moons ago, who made a background by embossing these repeated images.  I have loved doing the same thing with both the big and small flowers.  The line images are just beautiful, and the contrast on bright cardstock is great.  I just rounded the corners of the panel, colored in the circles to repeat the black, and added the sentiment and some ribbon.  LOVE how the oval from the Simply Jane dies (or the oval layers, too) fits right inside this Fillable Frames #10 die! Paper: PTI White, Black, Raspberry Fizz Ink: Versamark, Versafine Onyx Stamps: PTI Year of Flowers: Violets, Communique Sentiments Other: White Filigree embossing powder, PTI Simply Jane die, Fillable Frames #10, Fresh Snow grosgrain ...

It's PTI Anniversary time , which means daily challenges and all kinds of fun.  This challenge is to CASE a card by one of PTI's Design Team--each of them chose 6 of their own favorites.  I was surprised to find that my eye kept going to Melissa Phillips' card in the top, left corner.  Shabby chic is her specialty, and shabby chic I am most definitely not.  Not a speck of foof is found on my cards, because I am completely inept.  BUT, her color combination is just gorgeous, and I loved her composition. I am not much of a button girl, but I did have some chipboard buttons cut from PTI's button die, and I swiped my inkpad over the twine to make it Aqua Mist.  I also stamped off the "friend" in Canyon Clay so it would be a bit softer.  I love these colors together! Let me tell you what happened with this card(s).  I made a card with the original proportions, and I loved the look, but I thought there was too much white space on top.  So I...

Alrighty, I'm doing triple duty with this card today, which is a good thing, because although it looks pretty clean and simple, it took me a really long time.  Well, that's not saying much.  I'm a slow crafter anyway. First up is the CAS-ual Fridays challenge to use lettering. Next up we have the Online Card Class (Clean and Simple 2) Bonus Day 1-Die Cutting And finally, we have today's Papertrey Make It Monday #103-Double Die Cutting . Tired yet?  I die cut these heart tags from PTI's Tremendous Tags die, then die cut them again with the Block Alphabet dies.  I adhered the red paper behind, and then decided to glitter the hearts.  Backwards, I know.    I colored those small hearts with my Copic marker to match, and threaded some twine through the tags.  And no stamps.  Weird. Paper: PTI White, Sweet Blush polka dot, SU Cherry Cobbler Dies: PTI Tremendous Tags, Block Alphabet Other: Glitter Ritz Warm Highlight glitter, Pri...

Here's a departure card for me...I saw this post from Regan , which inspired me to use up some of my little squares I had punched for another, completely unrelated and ambitious project.  I love those frayed edge quilts, but instead of sewing one myself, I made a teeny tiny one and put it on a card.  I just distressed the edges of the squares and put them all together. Paper: PTI white, Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, Spring Moss polka, Pink Patterns Ink: PTI Berry Sorbet Stamps: PTI Healing Touch Sentiments Other: PTI Spring Moss satin ribbon, Simply Jane dies, Simple Stripes IP, 1" square punch, paper distresser

I love these roses! No matter what color combo I use, they always turn out beautifully.  Here's a birthday card for my stash.  I also really like Fine Linen and Royal Velvet together. Supplies: Paper: PTI Vintage Cream, Fine Linen damask pp, Royal Velvet Ink: PTI Vintage Cream, Winter Wisteria, Royal Velvet, New Leaf, SU Certainly Celery Stamps: PTI Sweet Life, FF Sentiments Other: PTI Mat Stack die