PTI Challenge: INK BLENDING ON COLORED CARDSTOCK

I enjoyed this week's challenge, although I'd have liked to have had time to try again. I am trying to be disciplined and use something in my stash every time I make a card ... I have tons and tons of cut stamped and/or die cut items that just collect.  I'm sure most stampers reading this post will relate!  I have a ton of PTI's paisleys all stamped and cut as I went kind of crazy with them awhile ago, so while I focused on white, I only had silver/gold/copper embossed paisleys already made, so I used a silver embossed one where I would have done white had a made one for the challenge. The scripture comes from the Cheerful Heart set.

PTI Challenge: SPOT COLOR WORD DIECUTS

The "look" of this idea for PTI's "Make it Monday" challenge is not a favorite, though I see a lot of designs that combine black and white outline designs with dashes of color.  I make wallpaper-covered journals, and even wallpaper has this motif. But, I really enjoy challenges!  I was definitely not happy with my results, and in fact, as I do upon occasion when I dislike a final product, I use temporary bond adhesive so that I can take it apart and try something different!  I altered this from the original slightly, when I felt the text did not "pop" the way I wanted to: I made a second die cut, attached it, then mounted the colored die cut on top.  This helped somewhat, but I still was not satisfied.  So, I took one of the markers I had used and did a little outline to help the 3D effect.  I then temporarily attached to a card so that I could have something for the challenge, and later I think I'll either re-highlight it in a darker pink or perhaps even black.  The paisley stamps I used also come with dies, so I probably will stamp the medium and small paisleys onto coordinating colored cardstocks, then die cut them to attach at the blank corners ... that is, if the highlighting turns out!  :-)

Here's the panel before I raised and highlighted it:

And here's the temporarily finished card:

PTI Challenge: Grafitti

I haven't posted anything in forever, though I have continued to make cards and journals.  Blogging just hasn't happened.  Papertrey Ink hosts a weekly challenge, "Make it Monday," and this week's challenge was Graffiti Word Art. I didn't quite manage it perfectly, but enjoyed the challenge. I do have to wonder, though, if the paint splatter is quite in keeping with the message of "Be still"! The scripture set is from the "Inspired:God" set of stamps and coordinating die.

Nativity Scene

I was completely astounded when my husband purchased a Cricut for me for my birthday this fall.  The expensive of the machine had made it something I did not even consider every owning! Almost immediately after seeing it, I knew I had to make this Nativity!  It was quite the project!  Trying to find enough browns/beiges, getting used to the working of the machine (what blades/mats/settings, etc to use for different qualities and thicknesses of cardstock), and just organizing the project made it a very time consuming project!  I was grateful for help I received from Sue Finucane on the  Gingerwood stamping board ... sometimes live human help is so much better than a product's website!

 Close Up

PTI Create Along With Us: September 2017

Every month Papertrey Ink has a new release of stamps and dies, and they make it lots of fun, and give away a bunch of gift certificates.  They also hold a "Create Along with Us" challenge for us to make something inspired by one of the design team's offerings of the new stamps and dies. I was inspired by the tags they are offering, and used a quilt die as the primary focus.  In the PTI samples, the label portion was in the middle, and that was my original plan as well.  However, it just did not look right.  So, I ended up punching it and tying it at the top. This particular quilt die is no longer manufactured by PTI, but they have several others.  I have so much fun with them!

My apologies for the poor picture quality.  I am still trying to figure things out with my camera chip not working on my PC.

Make it Monday: Small Images on Repeat

This week's challenge is to take a small image and stamp it multiple times.  My diecut/embossing machine cracked apart, so I borrowed one from a friend for a few weeks, but have returned it.  Now I have to make all my cards without dies or embossing, which is kind of nice, actually, as it pushes me to go back to focusing on stamping.   This week's challenge at Papertrey nicely was one I could easily do, though I'm not satisfied with it, so probably will do some tweaking of the card later on.

The images come from the Thrill of Hope stamp set.

I do not know why, but my PC no longer recognizes my camera's chip, so I had to do this with my laptop, and it has distorted the color; the card is actually a light brown, almost kraft, not the off white that you see displayed here.  But, the sun is down too far to try a picture with my phone, and the deadline is 7:00 am tomorrow, so here it is in its warped colors!

Monochrome Color Pop

Another "Make it Monday" challenge at PaperTrey Ink.  This one is titled "Monochrome Color Pop" and requires a monochromatic card with a splash of color. I just purchased PTI's Quilted: Autumn set, and am having so much fun with it, that of course I had to use it for the challenge! For the text I used the Boutique Borders Sympathy set. The leaf is from an ancient Cuttlebug set long retired (and for good reason: the early dies were thick, foam backed metal squares, and a nuisance to work with!)