Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

This month's blog hop at Papertrey Ink is all about incorporation tissue paper into your project. I decided to make a couple of tags for my project. I have been wanting to try these flowers for awhile and it didn't seem practical to put them on a card as I don't see how you would fit it into an envelope! If I need a card to go with them, I can always make something that coordinates without all of the puffiness of tissue paper!






On this second tag I also used tissue paper for the border along with the felt. I intentionally left off the sentiments on these tags, so that I could use them for whatever need comes up.
Thanks for stopping by and have fun tonight!
Melanie

Is everyone keeping warm?? We were teased with a touch of spring only to be shocked back to winter this weekend! Hopefully this is it for the winter-like weather...now here comes the rain every other day. But, I'll take it and I'll try not to complain too much!

This is a card for the Paper Crafts Gallery challenge featuring babies and brides. One of my favorite new Papertrey Ink stamp sets is their baby button bits which I used on this card. The striped pattern was created with the Faux Ribbon stamp set.

I am supposed to be working, so I better get off here. Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Supplies (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise indicated)
Cardstock: Ripe Avocado, Spring Rain, Stampers Select white
Stamps: Baby Button Bits, Background Basics: Tin Types, Faux Ribbon
Ink: Ripe Avocado, Spring Rain
Other: Ripe Avocado button, Spring Rain ribbon, twine, Nestabilities Label 3, Copic markers

Moxie Fab World's Olympics of Stamping challenge

I read that today was the deadline for the Moxie Fab World's Olympics of Stamping challenge so I thought I would enter the few Christmas cards I made into the Season's Greetings category. Thanks for looking...

Tis the Season:


Supplies {all Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise indicated}:
Cardstock: Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Raspberry Fizz, Vintage Cream
Ink: New Leaf, Dark Chocolate
Stamps: Tree Trimming Trio, Signature Christmas, Text Style
Other: EK Success edge punch, Queen and Co. gems, sewing machine


We Wish You a Merry Christmas:


Supplies (all Papertrey Ink, unless indicated otherwise)
Cardstock: Kraft, Dark Chocolate
Stamps: Vintage Ornaments, Signature Christmas, Polka Dot Basics 2
Ink: Pure Poppy, Fresh Snow, Dark Chocolate
Other: glitter-Martha Stewart, ribbon- unknown, button and twine-Papertrey Ink


Love Peace Joy:


Card Supplies
paper: Smokey Shadow, Pure Poppy (PTI)
stamps: Tree Trimming Trio, Holiday Button Bits (PTI)
Ink: True Black (PTI), Versamark
Other: Stickles, Spellbinders label 1 die, EK Success paper edger, embellishment (Michaels), clear embossing powder

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

This month's Papertrey Ink blog hop is a fun one! As soon as I read the details, I knew I wanted to participate.
From the Papertrey Ink website:

Since we just finished up our 3rd Anniversary Festivities, we thought we would do something extra special for this month's Blog Hop! Design Team Appreciation Day! Your challenge is to go through the Design Team gallery or any of the Design Team Members' blogs and find a project that is especially inspirational to you! Then recreate the project with your own spin, making it unique! Be sure to share a link and photo of the original project that inspired you! And you can also use this opportunity to thank the team for all their contributions this past year! I know they inspire ME daily and I never seem to thank them enough! We look forward to seeing your projects!

I have always said that I think Papertrey Ink has some of the most talented designers in the industry. They are each so unique and inspiring in their own way. I'm excited for them to get a lot of *love* tonight!! So, the agonizing decision of who/what to showcase was extremely difficult!!! I ended up choosing something that when I first saw it...It was one of those WOW! moments for me. It was on Mish's blog and it is something she calls rib-n-strips. Here is the blog post where she introduced this very clever idea.
Here is Mish's card featuring her rib-n-strips:

Such a clever idea...and a great reason to hang on to those ribbon scraps!

Here is my card featuring Mish's rib-n-strips:


This was such a fun blog hop idea and I truly can't wait to visit everyone's blog. Thank you to Mish and all of the design team members for their daily inspiration! I seriously could of picked any one of them for this blog hop. They are ALL truly awesome!!

'til next time!
Melanie

Supplies (All Papertrey Ink, unless indicated otherwise)
Cardstock: Stamper's Select white, Spring Morning, Raspberry Fizz
Stamps: Turning a New Leaf, Baby Button Bits, Everyday Classics (annv. set)
Ink: True Black, Spring Morning
Other: Ribbon (all PTI), EK Success edge punch, Nestabilities Label One die, Copic markers, buttons from stash

"I'm in pieces..."

Hello! Hope everyone is having a great week so far! We spent last weekend in Kansas City with some family and came home to a few inches of snow on the ground. The kids were already off for Presidents day on Monday, but I'm sure they would of been anyway. So, with the short week I feel like it's flying by! Normally a good thing, but we are celebrating my middle son's birthday this weekend and I'm not even close to being ready!
Anyway, on to the card! I made this for Betsy's challenge "I'm in pieces" Basically, she challenged us to do some paper piecing. The umbrella card she made with this technique is amazing...No surprise that this girl is the sole reason I have purchased so many Papertrey Ink stamp sets! In fact I've added Scattered Showers to my cart just because of this card! I love it!! So, I don't think if I've ever paper pieced anything before....so I dusted off my Cricut that I gave myself for Christmas *wink* and got busy!

I'm totally new to the whole Cricut thing, but I have to tell you, I'm hooked! I pieced together this cute little snail from a cartridge FULL of cute little critters called Paisley. I only have a few cartridges that I picked up on Black Friday last year, but I can see that I'm gonna have to do something about that... very soon!
Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Supplies
Cardstock: Smokey Shadow, Summer Sunrise-Papertrey Ink
PP: all from DCWV 'the Spring stack'
Stamps: Turning a New Leaf, Pond Life
Ink: Smokey Shadow, Spring Moss
Other: Spring Rain button-PTI, Cricut and Paisley cartridge, sewing machine

{embellish magazine} color challenge w/ribbon

Hello! I wanted to quickly post a card for the recent Embellish magazine challenge. I am having all sorts of camera issues this week. I can't seem to find the battery charger to my camera and it has finally died, just before I could photograph my card. Anyway, to make a long story short, I almost didn't get this up in time and I've just about got my house torn apart! I still haven't found the charger, but fortunately I hung on to my old camera. The picture quality isn't as good, but it will have to do!
So, here are the details for this challenge:




I lined a piece of cardstock with Terrifically Tacky tape and placed my ribbon strips at a diagonal across the cardstock. After the ribbon was secure, I cut the cardstock with my trimmer to the size I wanted. Fortunately, I had just replaced the blade, so it cut through it pretty well! I first saw this technique on a blog somewhere...I'll try to find the link. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to give it a try! It's a good way to use up those ribbon scraps, too! Edited to add: I found the link...here. I knew it had to be one of the PTI girls!! lol
Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Supplies
Cardstock: Stampers Select White, Hibiscus Burst, Dark Chocolate-all PaperTrey Ink
Stamps: Say it with Style-PTI
Ink: Dark Chocolate-PTI
Other: all ribbon-PTI except the teal (unknown from my stash), EK Success paper edger, Cricut Storybook cartridge, Copic Markers, gems-unknown, Terrifically Tacky tape-Provocraft

The Pink Elephant Birthday Blog Hop

Happy Birthday Ella!!
Welcome to my stop on The Pink Elephant birthday blog hop! Hopefully, you started at the The Pink Elephant Blog....If not, click on the link above and get on over there!! {You don't want to miss anything!} For our participation, we were able to choose any of the challenges from the first year for our project. I went back to the beginning and picked the very first challenge, which was to create card using the colors Pink, Black and White. In honor of Ella!
Here is my card:


Your next stop on the hop is BJ Owens-DiCandia.....Have fun!!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Supplies (all supplies from Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise indicated)
Cardstock: True Black, Raspberry Fizz
PP: Bitty Box
Stamps: Heart Prints
Other: Cricut & Accent Essentials cartridge, EK Success border punch, Marvy heart punch, button and True Black saddle-stitch ribbon-PTI

CPS 153

The sponsor for the CPS #153 is Papertrey Ink, so of course I had to play along!


While I had the supplies out from the last 2 sketch challenges, I made this for the CPS challenge. I'm still loving this cupcake...but I'm ready to move on!! There are so many cute images in this set that I can't wait to ink up!
I'm keeping this short and sweet as it's almost 2 am here. School has already been called off for tomorrow, so I will get to sleep in a little. I'm kinda excited about that! I do have my post ready to go for tomorrow's blog hop celebrating one year of The Pink Elephant challenges. I can't wait!
Hope to see you then! ;)
Melanie

Supplies (all Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise stated)
Cardstock: Lemon Tart, Stampers Select White, Hibiscus Burst, Dark Chocolate
PP: Making Memories Cheeky Collection-Abby
Stamps: Baby Button Bits, Mixed Messages
Ink: Dark Chocolate
Other: Button, Rustic twine, Marvy Punch, Copic markers, Cuttlebug tag die. Melon Berry twill ribbon, safety pin

"Just Us Girls" Challenge #19

Here is a super fun sketch from "Just Us Girls" for their 19th challenge:




Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Supplies (all Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise stated)
Cardstock: Lemon Tart, Stampers Select White
PP: Making Memories Cheeky Collection-Abby
Stamps: Baby Button Bits, Say It With Style, Vintage Labels
Ink: Dark Chocolate
Other: Buttons, Rustic twine, Marvy Punch, Copic markers

Card Patterns #50

It's been awhile since I have participated over at Card Patterns...I had almost forgot how much I love their sketches! This week they are being sponsored by a digi stamp company called Inktegrity. Cute stuff! I haven't dipped my toe in the digi world yet, but these images may give me a push to give 'em a try.

This adorable cupcake is from the Baby Button Bits stamp set from Papertrey Ink. I don't have much need for another baby themed set, but I *needed* this cupcake...Isn't it sweet!?! Don't get me wrong there are plenty of other cute images in the set...but this one is my favorite. Love it!
Anyway, I will be back tomorrow with a card for The Pink Elephant Blog Hop. I also have more challenge cards to post from this week...I know, I can't believe it myself!! ha! Hope to see you then! ;)
Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Supplies
Cardstock: Lemon Tart, Hibiscus Burst, Stampers Select White
PP: Making Memories Cheeky Collection-Abby
Stamps: Baby Button Bits, Mega Mixed Messages
Ink: Dark Chocolate
Other: Melon Berry ribbon, button, Rustic twine, Marvy Punch, Cuttlebug tag die, Copic markers

Compose a Card Challenge #2

Hello everyone! Just a quick post with a card for Becky Oehler's 2nd Compose a Card Challenge.


Here is my card:

Dawn McVey has a great tutorial on how to make these fun little flowers on her blog...here.
I'm going to keep this short and sweet, so I can take care of my kiddos. They have been bitten by the bug...and I'm not talking about any ProvoCraft tool! One has Strep throat and the other two are complaining of stomach aches...Ugh! I was just bragging that they have all been so healthy...I'm eating those words now!
Have a good night!
Melanie

Supplies (all Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise stated)
Cardstock: Stampers Select White, Aqua Mist, Hibiscus Burst
PP: Summer Sunrise Bitty Box
Stamps: Everyday Classics
Ink: True Black
Other: Buttons, Rustic Twine, Nestibilites die

Compose a Card Challenge

As I mentioned in a previous post, Becky Oehlers has started up a new weekly challenge called "Compose a Card". Can I just tell you this is so up my alley!! First I love card challenges of all types, but this one is like a color challenge and a card recipe all rolled in one neat little package!! If you are into card challenges at all, you should really check it out! Above all else, she uses Papertrey Ink products so that just makes it that much easier not to have to match up colors since that is pretty much all I use these days.




Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Supplies ( all Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise noted)
Cardstock: Kraft, Vintage Cream, Melon Berry
Stamps: Heart Prints, Background Basics: Hearts
ink: Melon Berry
Other: Melon Berry satin ribbon and button, Spellbinders tag die, EK Success heart punch

A little organizing...

So my husband went on a ski trip this weekend and I have been seriously missing my crafty time. So, I rented the kids some movies and went to work! Unfortunately, the first thing I had to do was clean...ugh! Why do I have pile stuff up instead of dealing with it and putting it away? There is no flat surface safe in my house ...this includes my scrapbook room (which doubles as my home office). I have been wanting to organize my paper scraps for some time since I have outgrown my current system...which really isn't a system, but just a box! I ended up separating my Papertrey Ink paper scraps by color and putting them in file folders. I then cut a scallop circle swatch and adhered it to the folders. I'm hoping that I will actually use them up now. We'll see. Here is my new system... I saw this somewhere on a blog, but for the life of me I cannot remember where, so if anyone knows please share so I can give them credit for helping me get organized!


While I was taking pictures, I had to share this Copic storage rack:
It makes me so happy!! My mom got it for me for Christmas and I love it! I also got the Copic airbrush system and the cutest little air compressor from my wonderful husband! I haven't played with it much yet, but I will!!

The other thing I have been wanting to do was to make something to keep all of my online passwords for all of the websites I use in one place. While blog hopping, I ran across this super cute idea from Jennifer Holmes, using those plastic index card dividers. It literally took me longer to pick out the paper that would go with the rainbow of tabs then it did to assemble it. I did give my Crop-o-dile a good workout, though!! It's pretty plain, but I love it and I can now shred all of those little post-its and pieces of papers with login info on them!! Yay!

I used some old striped paper I found in my stash (not sure of manufacturer) along with Pure Poppy and Lemon Tart PTI cardstock and the stamp set Borders and Corners-circle and Take Note, also from Papertrey Ink.
Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Where does the time go?

Hey everyone!! I'm still here...and I can't believe it has been over 2 months since I last posted! That's terrible, but it just doesn't seem like its been that long! The only thing I managed to get done before Christmas was a handful of Christmas cards and few tags. That's it! I really need to start on holiday projects months in advance or they just don't get done. **Can someone remind me of that next year?!?** Even though Christmas was over a month ago, I thought I would post my Christmas card anyway, who knows how many years before I do this again...it's a lot of work!! I got the idea from Becky Oehlers (who started a weekly card challenge that am super excited about...more on that in my next post) who made this super cute card. I love incorporating a picture of my kids into the design of a Christmas card, because I mainly send them to relatives who don't see them very often.
This is the picture I ended up with....I knew they would be holding a present embellishment and we took several different poses, but this one worked best.


Here is the finished card:


The inside says "Friends and Family are the true gifts of Christmas"

The only other paper crafting I did was mass produce these tags for several of these gift bags that I purchased from Target.


That's it. So, I really haven't had anything to post anyway. Enough with the Christmas stuff...I will be back with something a little more current!!
Thanks for stopping by,
Melanie

Card Supplies
paper: Smokey Shadow, Pure Poppy (PTI)
stamps: Tree Trimming Trio, Holiday Button Bits (PTI)
Ink: True Black (PTI), Versamark
Other: Stickles, Spellbinders label 1 die, EK Success paper edger, embellishment (Michaels)

Gift Tag Supplies
paper: Stampers Select white (PTI)
stamps: Made of Snow, Signature Christmas, Snowflake Serenade
ink: Pure Poppy, True Black (PTI)
other: Copic Markers, Prisma glitter, Cricut (tag), Pure Poppy ribbon (PTI)