Papertrey Make-it-Monday #80 - Making Garland

Hello! I'm here to participate in Papertrey's Make-it-Monday #80 this week. This week the tutorial by Ashley Cannon Newell is all about making garland using die cuts. You can view the tutorial here on Nicole's blog. I made a little garland to hang from the window in my granddaughter's room. Now I'm going to have to make a blue one for my newest grandbaby - a little boy!

I used PTI sets Bundle of Love and Tiny Tags, and Tiny Tags and Limitless Layers dies. These garlands are really fun!

Papertrey August Blog Hop Challenge

Hello! I am participating in the Papertrey August Blog hop this month - finally! The theme this month is all about texture and fall colors. Here's they way Nicole put it on her blog:

"This month's inspiration is all about autumn patterns, textures & textiles.  Think warm & cozy woolens, houndstooth, tweed, burlap, felt, corduroy. herringbone and even argyle.  You can create your own custom patterns & textures with stamps or impression plates.  Or you can incorporate actual fabrics, felt, yarn and other textiles in a creative way.  Have fun experimenting and perhaps stepping out of your creative box."

These are the two inspiration pictures for the blog hop:

 And here is my interpretation of the challenge.

I used a kraft card base and a fine linen front, impressed with the woodgrain impression plate. The leaves are cut using the Leaf Prints dies, canyon clay and dark chocolate PTI felt, as well as some houndstooth wool from my stash. The chevron stripe is cut with the Chevron die out of the same houndstooth wool. The sentiment - from Falling Leaves - is stamped on kraft felt and topped with a rust button from my stash. I was surprised at how well the stamping over felt went - this was the first time I've tried it. Thanks for stopping by - I'd love to hear what you think of my card - Have a great day! 

The Sweet Life

Hello! I have made a few cards with Papertrey's "The Sweet Life" set, but these last two I really liked due to the impressed background - it almost looks like a trellis. These stamps are so easy to line up - the different layers add so much dimension! And like Rosey Posey, it's hard to not make a great card.

The pink roses are stamped with Sweet Blush, Hibiscus Burst and Pure Poppy, and the leaves with Spring Moss and Simply Chartreuse. The yellow roses are stamped with Harvest Gold, Summer Sunrise and Canyon Clay, and the leaves with Simply Chartreuse and Ripe Avocado. I used the Grid lines impression plate for the card font. I stitched the front to  coordinating layers - Sweet Blush/Hibiscus Burst and Harvest Gold/Canyon Clay. Both of the card bases are Vintage Cream. The sentiment is also from "The Sweet Life". All products are from Papertrey. Hope you enjoy them!

Papertrey Make-It-Monday#79 - Card Three

Hello! One last card to share with you for the Make-It-Monday #79! This time I cut red polka dot fabric with the Rosey Posey dies, as well as a heart border. The sentiment is from the new Teach & Inspire set. I stamped over the fabric with Pure Poppy Ink using the Rosey Posey stamps. The patterned paper is from a 6 x 6 pad from Basic Grey called Serendipity. Hope you enjoy!

Papertrey Make-It-Monday #79 - Fabric Die Cuts - Card Two

Hello! I really enjoyed using die cuts to cut out fabric on my first MIM#79 card, so I decided to try again. I used the same packet of charm squares as in my first card, but changed the colors up some. This time I used the Rosey Posey die cuts. I wasn't sure how it would look to stamp over top of the fabric with the stamps, but I really like how they turned out! The only thing I'd like to improve on is to figure out how to stop the fabric from fraying. Even when the die cuts all the way through, the edges still tend to fray. I guess that's ok to some extent, since it is fabric. So here's my second attempt.

I also used the Perfect Patches dies to cut out a patch of coordinating fabric and stitched it to the card. I popped up the roses with foam tape and bent up the leaves on the ends for dimension. I also used the Guide Lines Grid impression plate on the background. Hope you enjoy it!

Papertrey Make-It-Monday #79: Fabric Die Cuts

Hello! I had time to make a card to participate in the Papertrey Make-It-Monday #79 Challenge. You can read all about it on Nicole's blog here. Basically, you glue a piece of fabric to cardstock and then use your dies to cut out shapes. The cardstock stabilizes the fabric. I decided to use one of my favorite dies - the Hexagon cover plate to cut out some hexagons. I had a bit of trouble getting the shapes to cut through, even with using the metal shim and running it through three times. I guess I should have run it through a few more times, because when I cut Beautiful Blooms die cuts, they cut through beautifully. Anyway, I ended up having to snip here and there with my scissors to get the hexagons out. I made a whole card front of the hexagons, so I will have some for other cards too. I used a white hexagon cover plate frame over top of the fabric hexagons - this helped cover up some of the frayed edges of the hexagons. I used the new Thanks Always PTI set for the sentiment, and the Giga impression plate for the base. The fabric charm square pack I used was from Moda - "Vintage Modern" by Bonnie & Camille. I just pulled these charm squares out of my quilting stash. :)

Thanks Melissa for such a fun video - now I know what to do with my quilting scraps!

A couple new cards

Hello! I've been randomly pulling out some of my older sets and making cards with them. I found myself getting in a rut where I would buy new sets, use them for a month or so, then file them away and play with the newer sets. Not only can that get expensive, but all those great sets I've had for awhile just sit there unloved. So with Autumn approaching, and all the new Papertrey autumn and Halloween sets coming out in August, I thought I would pull out a few of my older sets and try to use them instead of buying new ones. So this first card is made using the $5 set Simple Sunflower. I have found this set to be so versatile - it's great for summer cards, and works nicely for fall ones too. I just love the idea someone had on the PTI forum to stamp it in red for a poinsettia too - brilliant. I love it when you get alot of mileage out of a $5 set!

The sentiment is from the PTI set "Falling Leaves". I used PTI Vintage Cream and Orange Zest cardstock, and PTI ink Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, Dark Chocolate and Simply Chartreuse. I sewed around the edges and slipped a piece of gold ribbon in the top right corner for balance.

This next card uses a couple sets that came out a few months ago. I didn't buy the On the Farm stamps, but I did get the animals dies.

I used PTI sets Happy Hexagons, Background Basics Farm & Barn (LOVE that chicken wire!) and a My Favorite Things set for the sentiment - "My Favorite Sentiments". I really like to distress the edges of my card layers with PTI Tea Dye Duo ink cubes - I just love the antique look it gives them. :)
That's all from me today! Hope you have a great week - thanks for stopping by!

Having fun on the couches

Hello! I've been having fun making cards using the (new to me) On My Couch and On My Couch Additions stamp sets from Papertrey. I was able to purchase these sets from a friend recently, and just got the chance to play with them. They weren't even on my radar when the first came out, but now that I've played with them, I just can't get enough of them!. Here are some of the cards I made:

Supplies I used: On My Couch and OMC Additions and dies, Rustic cream, Melon Berry, Fine Linen, Ripe Avocado and Kraft cardstock , Matt Stack 3 and Layerz dies, and some patterned paper from My Minds Eye.

Next up is a card I made using a Papertrey set I have on loan - All Booked Up. I've been eying this set too for a while. I'm not a big reader because I find I only have time for a couple hobbies - being quilting and cardmaking - just can't fit reading time in too! Unless it's a quilting or cardmaking book! I guess that's why I didn't get this set when it came out. But I had alot of fun playing with it. I have several friends who are big readers and I'm sure this card will find a good home. The background on this card is an Impression Obsession cover-a-card - Script

 After making the card front, I used my PTI bookmark die to whip up a bookmark to clip inside the card. I used the Alphabet Impression plate (on loan also) to impress the bookmark.

Thanks for visiting, and Thanks to Joan for the loans - I'm having fun with them! :)

Grandson quilt

Hello! We are expecting a grandson in mid-September! I have been working on a quilt for his room. My daughter has read many studies about how to stimulate little babies minds and senses and has decided to decorate his room in bright colors. Together, we made a pinwheel mobile to hang over his crib. We went to PaperSource up and picked out some bright colored papers, then went back to her house and started cutting them out. I had a die for the smaller pinwheels, but we had to cut the larger ones out by hand. She found the idea and pattern here on the web. This is the view of his mobile from inside his crib. So colorful!

 She is using these madras curtains from Pottery Barn in his room. I think his mobile and quilt will match perfectly!

Then, to keep the bright colors and pinwheels going, I made this pinwheel quilt for his room. I am very pleased with the results - I hope she will be too.

 Here is a picture of the label on the back of the quilt. It was made with a Papertrey stamp set "Teach and Inspire" and some Photoshop magic.

This is the baby crib in my house where our grandkids sleep when they come over. I made the quilt on the wall when I was pregnant with my daughter - 31 years ago! The little mobile was given to me at a baby shower for her.

Then, because every little baby has to have a little blanky to love, I made him a little ribbon blanky using Cat in the Hat Minkee fabric. I purchased the kit for this little blanky from Quilting Adventures in Richmond.