Bundle of Joy

Today I am sharing a card that I submitted for the Go To Sketches call at Paper Crafts. It wasn't accepted, but I'm participating in a blog hop over at Amber's blog for all of the rejects!! Okay, this is such great idea....I have loved looking at all of the rejected cards. There is some serious talent out there....I had to keep reminding myself that these are the ones they didn't pick up!! Crazy! This was the first time I have ever submitted for publication, so I had zero expectations! Good thing, huh? lol! Paper Crafts reported they had over 2700 cards submitted for consideration! WOW....that's a lot of cards!
Here is my first rejected card based off of sketch #35:



Be back soon with reject #2!

Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Supplies

Cardstock: Stampers Select White, Summer Sunrise, New Leaf, Hawaiian Shores (Papertrey Ink)

Stamps: Tiny Treats:Valentine, Fresh Alphabet, Bitty Background Blocks, Mega Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: True Black, Hawaiian Shores, Summer Sunrise (Papertrey Ink), Clover Meadow (CTMH)

Other: Button Card Collection die, 1/4" White Silk ribbon, Cream Button Twine, button (all Papertrey Ink), Cuttlebug tag die (Provocraft)

Papertrey Ink February Blog Hop Challenge

TGIF....and as an added bonus it happens to be the 25th!! This month's PTI blog hop theme was all about scallops. I know there will be a lot of great cards to check out so I'll keep the chit chat to a minimum!



So, I layered strips of scallops cut out with the medium scallop border punch, glued them all together and ran it thru my cuttlebug using the cloud dies.


I wasn't sure it would cut it cleanly, but it did. I had to make a few snips here and there with my scissors, but it did cut it better than I thought it would! I sponged some fresh snow ink over the "humps" before I adhered it all together to give it some depth. I really like how they turned out. I'm not sure the picture does them much justice! I'm already thinking of scalloped trees or a sunrise.....if only there were a few more hours in the day!
Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Supplies (all Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise indicated)
Paper: rustic white, spring rain, harvest gold
Stamps: Up, Up and Away
ink: true black, pure poppy, fresh snow, simply chartreuse, hibiscus burst, orange zest
other: limitless layers die, clouds die, medium scallop die, sunshine impression plate

"Make It Monday" Challenge....

...on a Friday. This week's PTI's "Make It Monday Challenge" was to use a vellum sentiment strip. Sounds easy, right? I've discovered that I'm not a fan of vellum. Don't get me wrong, I would love your card with vellum....just not mine. It's kind of like salad for me. I love eating salad as long as someone else makes it, but if I make one it never tastes as good. Does that happen to anyone else!!?!? So, anyway, here is my attempt at a card with a vellum sentiment strip:

This is for my nephew's birthday next month. I am loving these weekly PTI challenges...I might actually make a few cards before I need them!



Thanks for stopping by,
Melanie

Supplies (all Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise noted)
Cardstock: Harvest Gold, Pure Poppy, Hawaiian Shores, Simply Chartreuse, True Black
Ink: True Black
Dies: Banner Borders, By the Numbers, Seeing Stars, Double Ended Banner
Impression Plate: By the Numbers
Other: Lemon Tart button, DMC black floss

"Make It Monday" challenge

Have you seen all of the exciting things going on over at Papertrey Ink? This is my absolute favorite company related to this hobby I love so much! February is their anniversary month and it's one big celebration! I'm sure if you are reading this you have gotten here from their new facebook page, but if not here is a link to Nichole's blog (one of the owners of PTI) to see what I'm talking about!
Here is my entry for the very first challenge in the new Make It Monday series:


Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Supplies (all Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise indicated)
card stock: Rustic white, berry sorbet, sweet blush
Stamps: My Punny Valentine, Heart Prints, Around and About Sentiments, Everyday Button Bits, Mega Mixed Messages, Say It with Style
Ink: Berry Sorbet, Sweet Blush, Dark Chocolate
Other: Fiskars border punch

Welcome, little baby bee

Hello! Hope everyone out there is keeping warm. Here in St. Louis, we are hunkering (is that a real word?) down for what the meteorologists are calling a historic winter storm. Great. We have already had 8 snow days and if we get what they are predicting, this whole week could be a wash. The kids are going to be going to school until July at this rate! Hopefully, there will be a few clear hours tomorrow before it all starts....I really need to get to the bank and post office. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
This is a card that I made for a friend of mine to donate for a fundraiser. (I'll have to update with more information on that later!) I made two sets of cards and I will post them over the next week or so. I have to mention that this was kind of tricky for me, because they had to be mailable. So, no ribbon bows or too much extra stuff that makes a card so cute! I did sneak in a few buttons and some flatter ribbon treatments on some of the cards, but that's about all.

Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie

Supplies- both cards (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise indicated)
Cardstock: Harvest Gold, Vellum (wings)
PP: Bitty Dot Basics
Stamps: Baby Button Bits
Ink: True Black, Chamomile-vintage touch tea dye duo
Other: Medium Scallop die, black button, button twine

Papertrey January Blog Hop Challenge

Gosh, where to begin....It's been a long time. Wow! Nine months to be exact...and no I did NOT have a baby! Get it? Nine months....okay, that's probably only funny to me!
I wish I had some great reason for my absence, but fortunately it's just been life. Everyone is healthy and happy and, well, busy! I think I've been gone so long, I need to update my profile picture! Those kids look cute and little, mine are bigger and still pretty cute, but definitely older!
This month's blog hop at Papertrey Ink was just what I needed to get back into the swing of things.

This month's blog hop challenge involves you challenging yourself to use a Papertrey stamp set that has yet to see ink or even one that might be collecting a little dust! Go through your stash and see what little used treasure it might hold.

Okay, so this is just speaking to me. I just might have a stamp set (or ten!) that has never seen ink!! The real challenge here is deciding which one to would use! :) I finally decided on Up, Up and Away. I loved this set from the minute I saw the sneak peeks....


First let me just say, I love PTI's dies and Impression Plates!! Those little cloud dies are to die for!! (pun intended!) Love them. I also used the Sunshine Impression Plate on this card and I just love how it gives the card a sense of movement under those balloons. Surprisingly, it even photographed well... Bonus!


On this next card, I used the Fancy Flourishes set in addition the the Up, Up and Away. FF has always been one of my favorites and it has definitely seen plenty of ink!



Now that I'm back, I hope to continue posting. I love it and just wish there were more hours in the day or maybe a few less extra-curricular activities for my kids. Either way, I have several more cards to post over the next few days, so please come back!
Thanks for stopping by,
Melanie

Supplies- both cards (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise indicated)
Cardstock: Spring Rain, Stampers Select white
PP: Bitty Box Basics
Stamps: Up, Up and Away, Fancy Flourishes
Ink: True Black, Pure Poppy and Simply Chartruese all PTI , and Sunflower (CTMH)
Other: Sunshine Impression Plate; Cloud, Hot Air Balloon and Ric Rac dies; Simply Chartruese felt; gems (other)

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

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

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