More Papertrey Ink

After work last night I had a chance to break out my new goodies from Papertrey Ink and make a few quick cards. I am so happy with their coordinating colors--I can't wait until next month when they release more!

The first card uses Papertrey's white cardstock, Spring Moss ink, and Butterfly Kisses stamp set. This is not their Aqua Mist ink, but I had just bought VersaMark Chalk ink in Sea Breeze and it's a pretty similar color. I tried to capture the sparkle of the gems and stickers I added, but the light didn't want to cooperate today. It's got plenty of sparkle in person.



The second card uses Papertrey's white cardstock as a base, Everyday Blessings patterened paper, Aqua Mist cardstock and twill tape, Spring Moss ink, and a sentiment from the Year Round Puns mini set. I mixed some of my acrylic paints and painted the wooden heart button to match.

Papertrey Ink

I had to bring my cards from this weekend to work to get some decent light to photograph them. I was a little rushed so they're not the best pics, but they're way better than the shots I got at home.

The first one I like because it's sort of simple. You can't really see in the photo, but the three "starbursts" under the sentiment have fuchsia sequins in the middle that match the ribbon beautifully. In person, this is a VERY pretty card--the photo doesn't do it justice.



The next one I like because you can go horizontal or vertical with it. I had to stop myself when I was adding pearls and crystal Stickles before I completely covered all of the butterflies. The Stickles doesn't really show up, but believe me, it's there in plenty. LOL It's very easy for me to get carried away with sparkly things.



Both cards use the Butterfly Kisses set from Papertrey Ink.

Roses and Ribbons

First, I have to post a picture of the beautiful roses my honey brought me for Valentine's day. He's not much for buying flowers (even though we live right next to a florist) so I was very surprised. They're even more beautiful than the photo shows.




Speaking of my boyfriend, he's constantly saying "You're buying MORE ribbon?!" I'm reduced to sneaking it into the house when he's not looking. I can't help it. I love ribbon. Here's a picture of the normal craft ribbon I have. This doesn't include my Christmas and gift wrapping ribbon (that's a whole different mess!). I got the clear snap cases at Wal-Mart for about $4 and they stack perfectly in the shelf unit next to my craft workspace so I can see which box I need.



I made some cards this weekend using my Papertrey Ink Butterfly Kisses set, but we had such a cloudy rainy weekend that I couldn't get decent photos (no good lighting). Hopefully I can get some better photos later today so I can post them tomorrow.

Must be Nice

This has nothing to do with crafts or stamping, but I have to say it must be nice to be a cat. What a rough life! LOL

It doesn't matter how small the sliver of sunlight is, my kitty always manages to find it.

Happy Valentine's Day

Here is a quick pic of the card I made my honey for Valentine's Day. I tried to not make it too girly and he seemed to like it, ribbon and all. I had about 20 minutes to make it before he got home from work so I could keep it a secret. It gave me the perfect excuse to break out the huge alphabet stamps I bought a few months back.

Finally Cookies!

For the last week my boyfriend has been begging for Valentine's Day cookies and last night I finally had the time. I'm not the best baker or decorator, but as long as they're full of sugar and icing he's happy, so mission accomplished.

More Cards! I had a busy weekend.

Here are some new cards I made this weekend. The first is a Birthday card for my 3-yr old niece. (Hopefully she won't notice or care that I stamped the fish upside down!) I found the puppies and kitties ribbon at Ben Franklin and couldn't pass it up.



Next is card for my 8-yr old nephew. I have a very hard time coming up with ideas for boy cards--I prefer sparkly and girly. I did add a little sparkle with by COPIC glitter pens on the Happy Birthday (even though the photo didn't pick it up). For the pattern on the bottom I used VersaMark and a great sun stamp I found on clearance at Archivers.


My third card was finished at about 11:00 p.m. last night so the lighting isn't the best, but I again used my COPIC markes on the watering can stamp. For the dots on the scalloped edge I originally used a pink souffle pen, but I wanted it darker so I went over it again with a COPIC in bright pink.



**As a side note, I recently decided to get the small Xyron 150 that creates stickers up to 1.5" wide. I had read a few bloggers raving about how great this works on ribbon so I decided to give it a try. I cannot put into words how much easier this machine makes adhering ribbon to cards. And it sticks! I've tried so many different types of adhesive before that would come loose, or if they were wet would warp the paper--not anymore.

The machine is so tiny that it hardly takes up any room in your workspace. I don't know how I ignored this little prize for so long. My local Michael's carries it for $9.99 and you can use their 40% off coupon like I did and get this baby for $6.00--you can't beat it.

Let's try to get these photos posted...

Here's a quick one I made with one of the $1 bin stamps from Michael's. It's hard to see in the photo, but I used diamond Stickles on the flames and it really makes them stand out.




This is the first card that I've used my new COPIC markers on. I'm still getting the hang of them, but I love the colors. I used a little diamond Stickles on the heart for a little sparkle. There are also some watermarked flowers in the background, but you can't really see them in the photo.




Here I sponged ink onto white paper flowers, and finished it off with a white fabric brad colored with my brown COPIC marker. I added dew drops and pearls to the side for a little extra "something". I really like all of the textures on this card.




Here's another quick card with a $1 bin stamp. The picture isn't the best, but it's bright and cheery and fun anyway. The bird is stamped on shimmery white paper so it stands out even more.

My First Time (Blush)

Well, here goes my first attempt at this whole blogging thing. I've been so inspired by some of the great ones I've read lately that I thought I'd give it a try on my own.

For the last year or so I've been completely obsessed with anything stamp, ink, embellishment, and paper craft related. Hopefully over the next few days I'll be able to post some photos of my latest creations. I hope that you enjoy seeing them as much as I enjoyed making them.

Thanks for reading--See ya soon.