Friday, May 25, 2012

May Papertrey Blog Hop

 
It's time for another blog hop at Papertrey.  I loved the colors in the inspiration photo (as a random side note, these are also the colors in my kitchen), and the mixing of patterns, so I focused on those elements for my projects. 
PTI's May Blog Hop Inspiration Photo
I guess I'll start with the boxes.  I actually made these last, but this is what the recipient will see first, and I think they really pulled the whole gift together.  I made everything that was going to go inside the boxes first, so I could customize the boxes to fit the contents perfectly. 
The boxes are made of mostly PTI papers (Simply Chartreuse, Stamper's Select White, True Black).  The tag on Box #1 (green lid) was punched out with Stampin' Up's Curly Label Punch and stamped with stamps from PTI's Friendship Jar Fillers.  Box #2 (the white lid box with the patterned front) was made with several stamps including Trendy Trees from Stampin' Up, Turning a New Leaf from PTI, and a butterfly stamp (that I love!) from Michael's $1 bin.  I had orginally intended this to be part of a card front, but never got around to finishing the card, so I just put it on top of the box.  It's actually a pretty fun pattern (I stamped it based off of a pattern from some some fabric that I saw), but I forgot to get a good shot of it. 
Box #1
Box #2
This isn't the best picture, but one of my favorite parts of Box #1 is the inserts inside it that I made to separate the bracelet and accessories into tiny compartments.  The process was a bit of trial and error, but in the end I finally got it right, and I was thankful again for having a Scor-Pal.
Every time I look at PTI's Simple Circles Border Die it reminds me of a bracelet, so I finally decided to make one. It's made out of felt, so it is soft, and I just used Velcro on the ends, so it is easy to put on. To make it more fun for my nieces, I put Velcro in the middle of the bracelet and made four different accessories that they can attach to it.  I used different felt, flowers, buttons, fabric patches, and dies to create the bracelet attachments (see supply list below).
Now for the insides of Box #2.  Okay, so I know I've made a bunch of hair accessories over the last few months, but I couldn't help myself. 
 
The little clips at the bottom are made mostly out of the scalloped circle from PTI's 1 3/4" Limitless Layers Circle Collection.  I die cut two scalloped circles - one in black and one in white.  Then I cut out every 5th scallop on the white one to make it look more like a flower.  The large chevron flower on the headband is made out of PTI's Large Scallop Border Die.  I used the same technique I used in these (just without the notches).  I used the same technique for the black flower that I used on the yellow flower in this post.  For the white flowr I put two of the flower-looking circles from PTI's 1 3/4" Limitless Layers Circle Collection on top.  I cut out every 4th notch on the top one to give it dimension.
Hair Accessories & Bracelet Supplies
Dies: Large Scallop Border, 1 3/4" Limitless Layers Circle Collection, Simple Circles (PTI); Bigz Beautiful Butterflies (SU); Flower Layers #3 (Sizzix)
Buttons: Sweet Leaf (CTMH), Black (from my stash)
Other: Black Floss (MM), fabric patches (MM), Fabri-tac, Velcro, felt (Hobby Lobby)
Box Supplies
Stamps: Friendship Jar Fillers (PTI), Background Basics: Text Style (PTI), Trendy Trees (SU), Turning a New Leaf (PTI), butterfly stamp (from Michaels $1 bin)
Ink: Basic Grey (SU), Kiwi Kiss (SU), True Black (PTI)
Paper: Simply Chartreuse (PTI), True Black (PTI), Stamper's Select White (PTI), Basic Black (MM)
Other: Curly Label Punch (SU), Ribbon, Scor-Tape

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Make It Monday #66: Border Die Flowers - Round 2

I love making felt flowers with border dies, so I decided to make another one for this week's Make It Monday Challenge.  I used the large scallop border die again (see my other large scallop border die flowers here and here), but this time I snipped a tiny triangle out the of the top of each scallop before I started pleating the flower.  I pleated at every notch (including the ones made by the die) for the small flower (bottom left) and only the notches I cut for the large  flower (bottom right).  If you look really closely at the flowers you might be able to see what I'm talking about.
One thing I love about these flowers is that they lay really flat, and even when I doubled them up, they didn't really add too much bulk to the card.
Supplies (all PTI unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Botanical Silhouettes, Turning a New Leaf
Ink: Buckaroo Blue (SU), Spring Moss
Paper: Dark Chocolate, Kraft, Chatter Box Paper Scraps
Other: Large Scallop Border Die, Vintage Buttons, Felt

Make It Monday #66: Felt Flowers From Border Dies

When I saw this week's Make It Monday to create a felt flower out of a border die, I knew I had to play along because I've been having fun making felt flowers from border dies the last few months (see this post and this post).  But then I decided I wanted to stretch myself a bit and try to come up with a different flower than the ones I've already done, so I started die cutting and experimenting.  I ended up using the negative/left over felt after die cutting PTI's large scallop border die to create both flowers on the card.  For the large flower, I just took the entire negative strip and pleated it as I turned it in a circle.  And for the flower bud, I just folded a portion of the negative strip over a couple times.  It looked kind of funny at the bottom, so then I cut a single scallop and layed it diagonally across the front to hide the mess.  That made it look more like a bud, which is what I was going for anyway.  Oh, and I used my x-acto knife to cut a slit for the branches to slide through, so it looked like the flowers were actually inside the jar.
Supplies
Stamps: Botanical Silhouettes, Friendship Jar Summer Fillers, Turning a New Leaf (all PTI)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU), Old Olive (SU), Tea Dye Duo (PTI)
Paper: Kraft, Ripe Avocado, Rustic Cream (all PTI)
Other: Large Scallop Border Die (PTI), Linen & Canvas Impression Plate, Hollyhock button (CTMH), felt, twine

Thursday, May 10, 2012

PTI Make It Monday #65 Take 2

I still had the scraps from the scraps :) I used on this project sitting out still, so I threw together a quick card today for PTI's Make It Monday Challenge to use scraps to create a patterned background. I pulled a bit more of the yellow and blue this time, and I loved the cupcake so much that I had to make another one. :)
Supplies
Stamps: Baby Button Bits (PTI), Background Basics: Text Style (PTI)
Ink: Buckaroo Blue (SU), Chocolate Chip (SU), Pumpkin Pie (SU)
Paper: Rustic Cream Cardstock (PTI); Monarch and Sunflower Cardstock (MM); First Blush Designer Cardstock Collection (Prima Marketing Inc.); and scraps from Mosaic Memories (Recollections), Garden Party (DCWV), and Chloe's Closet DP (MM)
Other: 1 3/4" Limitless Layers Die Collection (PTI),

Pages with Papertrey April Sketch

It's taken me a month to find time to do this, but I finally finished my page for Leigh's April Pages with Papertrey sketch.  Here's the sketch.
I love these sketches because they take a lot of the guess work out of a scrapbook page.  I had to adapt it a fair amount to make the pictures I wanted to use work.  I just couldn't narrow them down, so I was determined to find a way to make them all work on the page.  It's really a simple page and hardly uses any supplies at all.
This circle border took forever to make.  There is actually a page in Me & My Big Ideas' Boy Specialty Cardstock that had circles on it, but they were spaced out with a white background.  Just cutting a row of them looked funny, so I ended up individually punching out each circle then adhering them on a piece of Scor-tape.  Not sure if it was worth the trouble, but it's done. :)  Oh, and here's a close up of PTI's block alphabet dies...love them and can't wait to get PTI's new script alphabet dies.
Supplies
Paper: Boy Specialty Cardstock (Me & My Big Ideas), Honeydew Cardstock (MM)
Other: Block Alphabet Die Collection (PTI), 1/2" Circle Punch (SU), Scor-tape

PTI Make It Monday #65: Background Patterns From Patterned Paper Scraps & Monday with Melis Challenge

I was actually really excited to see this week's Make It Monday challenge at PTI because I have a terrible time throwing away scraps from papers I really like. I have a huge stash of scraps, and these particular triangle scraps were left over from a banner I made for a baby shower last September. I loved the orange and teal together, and when I looked at them I immediately thought of this adorable picture my sister-in-law took of my sister's youngest daughter. I absolutely love her, and I think this picture captures just how adorable my little niece is.
I cannot claim the layout as my own. I recently looked at Jessica Sprague's blog, and I saw this layout on one of Jessica's online classes. I guess I couldn't get it out of my head because when I started putting this page together I realized it was looking strikingly similar to Jessica's layout.
Here is a close up of the background I pieced from the scraps.
I also created this layout with the Mondays with Melis Challenge #3 from a few weeks ago in mind.  This particular challenge was titled "Shake Up Your Style!", and you had to create a card (obviously I didn't do a card) with the following 4 things:
1. A new to you style -- I have had these Walnut Ink sprays from Tsukineko forever and I have never used them...until today. And now I know why...I'm not very good at the grunge look. :)  I ended up changing my layout and hiding most of what I had sprayed on.
2. A cupcake or something sweet
3. Buttons
4. Background Stamp
My little cupcake from Baby Button Bits (PTI) fills the last three challenge requirements.  I stamped Background Basics: Text Style (PTI) on the cake part of the cupcake.
Here are a couple more detail shots.  I decorated for a football themed party a couple months ago and had a bunch of scraps leftover from some flags I made with paper and dowels.  I saw the scraps in my pile when I was pulling the ones out for this layout and I thought of those flags, so I decided to make itty bitty versions of them with paper and toothpicks.  
 
Supplies
Stamps: Baby Button Bits (PTI), Background Basics: Text Style (PTI)
Ink: Buckaroo Blue (SU), Walnut Stain Distress Ink (Ranger)
Paper: Rustic Cream Cardstock (PTI), Seasons Collection: Fall Brown (Provo Craft), First Blush Designer Cardstock Collection (Prima Marketing Inc.), and scraps from Mosaic Memories (Recollections) and Chloe's Closet DP (MM)
Other: Doily Details Die (PTI), Large Scallop Border Die (PTI), Buttercream & Lemondrop Twine (The Twinery), Juniper Brads (CTMH), Cocoa Marker (CTMH), Terra Cotta Walnut Ink (Tsukineko), Autumn Buttons (CTMH), Scallop Square Punch (SU), toothpicks

Monday, May 7, 2012

PTI Make It Monday #64: Using Color Inspiration

So I'm barely getting this card done on time for this week's Make It Monday Challenge at PTI.  I actually watched Nichole's video early last week, but just never got the chance to make a card.  I loved all the color inspirations she provided, but needed a masculine card, so this is the one I chose (not to mention I have a room in my house...two actually...that basically follow this color scheme minus the aqua color...and now I think I would like to add that color in!).
The only thing I changed is that I used PTI's Rustic Cream Cardstock in the place of Vintage Cream. I just like the Rustic Cream better.  Oh, and I don't have very many PTI inks, so I pulled out all my PTI papers in the inspiration colors and then went through my ink pads and stamped an image several times in several colors until I figured out which ones matched.
My favorite part of this week's Make It Monday video was when Nichole talked about the "Rule of Three".  Although I've heard it and seen it illustrated before, it just seemed to click better this time.  I actually love everything about this card.  It's simple but balanced.  I'm glad I made it for my husband because otherwise I might have a hard time giving it away. :)
I thought it would be boring to have one patterned chair and one plain chair (plus I needed to use both the fine linen and kraft colors in one more spot to achieve the "Rule of Three", so I used the stripes in PTI's Background Basics: Retro to create the striped pattern on the chair from On My Couch (a favorite PTI set of mine).  You can also see a hint of the flowers I added to the vase.  I just stamped a single flower from the big flower cluster image in Botanical Silhouettes.

Supplies (all PTI unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Background Basics: Retro (stripes on chair), Botanical Silhouettes (flowers in vase), On My Couch, On My Couch Additions
Ink: Cool Caribbean (SU - stamped off once), Chocolate Chip (SU), Really Rust (SU), Tea Dye Duo: Chamomile & Chai Blend
Paper: Aqua Mist, Rustic Cream
Other: Colored Pencils