Mandala on Yellow

A mandala stencil gave me a festive design for this "congratulations" card.  I embossed the mandala before sponging it, for a bit of dimension.  

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) lemon tart (light yellow). 
• The yellow card stock is embossed with the mandala burst stencil by Gina K. Designs.  See this post for the technique and warnings. 
• To prevent a crease line, I placed my Big Shot's top cutting plate a bit short of the end of the stencil.  
• After embossing, I stenciled the design with PTI bright buttercup (bright yellow), orange zest, and raspberry fizz (deep pink) inks, using the round Ranger ink blending tool to apply the ink.  
• The sentiment "congratulations" is from Stampabilities card phrases (retired), stamped with PTI raspberry fizz and a small amount of orange zest inks.

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Embossed Stars - Blue and Tan with Red

For the blue embossed stars, I tried a technique from Jennifer McGuire's blog, brayering a dark blue ink onto my embossing folder.  It worked fine, and I'm glad I tried it, but like most inky techniques for me, it was probably a one-time experiment.  Thank you, Jennifer, for all your information and inspiration!

I like the tan background with the same embossed stars, this time uninked.  A red border and crisp red sentiment add some energy. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) blueberry sky (medium blue), pure poppy (red), and fine linen (tan).
• Embossing folder is Darice stars asst (assorted). 
• I used PTI enchanted evening (dark blue) ink on the embossing folder. 
• The word "thanks" is cut with Silhouette Cameo, using Hobo Std font, same as this card.   
  

Created for Operation: Quiet Comfort.

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Green Vines with Green Stripes

When I saw Jennifer McGuire's recent blog post on "reusable" stamping with craft foam ("DIY Stamps from Dies"), I knew I should try the technique.  This delicate vine die is one of my favorites, and it looked like it would work beautifully for a stamp.  To make it reusable, in line with Jennifer's ideas, I cut it from self-adhesive foam, which I then adhered to a piece of clear card stock.  I used removable Scotch tape to tape that to my MISTI lid, shimmed a scrap of white card stock to lift it closer to the very thin stamp, and started stamping a test piece. 

Since it was just meant for a test, I wasn't concerned about my stray ink.  But looking at it later on, I saw what a lovely watercolor-ish effect it made, stray ink marks and all.  So I added a small sentiment and layered it onto a card.  I'm very happy with the result, and I'll enjoy using my new reusable foam stamp!  Thank you, Jennifer, for all your great technique instructions and your inspiration!

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) ripe avocado (dark green) and stamper's select white.
• Patterned paper is PTI spring moss (light green) pattern pack (tone-on-tone prints - retired).
• The sentiment "hello" is from PTI tag-its #12 (retired), stamped with PTI ripe avocado ink. 
• The vines are stamped with craft foam, cut with Memory Box floral vine die, using PTI simply chartreuse (medium green - for two vines) and ripe avocado (for one vine) inks.

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Floral Dot Print with Aqua, Teal, and Cream

I had two small pieces of this floral dot print, so I separated them on a larger teal rectangle, with a sentiment banner placed in the gap.  The result looks interesting, and the scale works well on my aqua card base.  It's fun for me to see what I can do with my scraps.

I'll use this layout again, even without scraps.  Four cards can be made with a 6 x 6" print, cut into four 3 x 3" squares, then each square cut at 1". 

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) aqua mist, tropical teal, and vintage cream.
• Patterned paper is from Basic Grey PB&J 6x6" pad (retired).
• Die is from PTI double-ended banners.
• The sentiment "thank you" is from PTI keep it simple: thank you, stamped with PTI honey nut (golden brown) ink cube.

Created for Operation: Quiet Comfort.

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Purple Flowers on Sponged Rectangle

This card was fun to create - a technique I will use again!  First I die cut a rectangle to make a mask for my white panel and sponged inside it with teal and green inks.  Then I finished the panel with flowers and sentiment stamped in dark green and purple, accented my flowers with dots of white, and mounted it on a striped purple card front.  I love how the colors glow.  

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) stamper's select white.
• Patterned paper is from PTI plum pudding (medium purple) pattern pack (tone-on-tone prints - retired).
• The rectangle mask is cut from Yupo translucent 5 x 7" paper, easy to die cut and very durable.  I added color with PTI new leaf (green) and tropical teal ink cubes, using an e.l.f total face brush and a round Ranger ink blending tool to apply the ink. 
• The sentiment "just a note" is from PTI keep it simple: just a note, and the images are from PTI botanical silhouettes, stamped with PTI pinefeather (dark green) and royal velvet (dark purple) ink cubes. 
• The white dots in the flower centers are added with Dr. Ph. Martin's bleedproof white opaque watercolor. 

Created for Operation: Quiet Comfort.

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Yellow Stars with Brown and Rusty Red

Bright yellow stars with some deep brown and rusty red accents.  The stenciled airbrushing (with two shades of yellow) makes a softly variegated look, while the embossed star outlines are crisp and clear. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) dark chocolate (brown), terra cotta tile (rusty red), and stamper's select white.
• The white card stock is embossed with the PTI cover plate: stars die, and I used the same die to cut a stencil from Neenah solar white.  After embossing, I stenciled my stars in yellow, airbrushing with Copic markers Y19 andY26.
• In addition to the cover plate, the dies are PTI double-ended banners and My Favorite Things vertical stitched strips.
• The sentiment "thank you" is from PTI keep it simple: thank you, and the tiny stars are from PTI land that I love, stamped with PTI dark chocolate ink cube.

Created for Operation: Quiet Comfort.

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Blue Flowers with White

Today's card was inspired by Papertrey Ink's recent design team tips: using die cuts to create negative designs in stamped images.  I was very pleased with the beautiful results on my first attempt.  Thank you, Lizzie, for your tutorial and examples! 

After placing my "hugs" mask, cut from Avery removable label paper, I sponged on a light blue ink.  (In real life, the sponged color looks more even.)  Then I stamped a few outline flowers and leaves, which I filled in with colored pencils.  The pencils made it easy to color right up against the mask edges.

Note: the gray border is background, not part of the card. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Paper Source cobalt (navy - retired), Hero Arts cerulean (medium blue), and Papertrey Ink (PTI) stamper's select white.
• The background is sponged with PTI spring rain (light blue) ink cube, using the round Ranger ink blending tool to apply the ink.
• Dies are from PTI stitched rectangles and big hugs.  I double cut the stitched rectangle to shorten it for my stamped panel.
• The images are from PTI in bloom, stamped with PTI dark indigo (navy) ink cube and colored with two blues and two greens from my very old set of Venus Spectracolor pencils.

Created for Operation: Quiet Comfort.

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Pinked Square - Brown with Green and Cream

A monochromatic feeling, with a variety of greens, browns, and cream.   All the angles and dots (embossed, printed, and die cut) keep the eye moving, but there's a resting place with the cream banner and its simple script sentiment.

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) prairie grass (green), cocoa bean (brown), and vintage cream.
• Patterned paper is the bitty dot print from PTI fine linen (tan) pattern pack (tone-on-tone prints - retired) and a print from PTI turning a new leaf 8 x 8" pad (retired).
• Embossing folder is Lifestyle Crafts diamonds and dots.
• Dies are from PTI double-ended banners and mix & mat: pinked edge.  
• Techinique:  The pinked edge die is a rectangle, and I cut it twice to make my square.  Starting with a square piece of card stock (3-3/8"), it was easy to cut once, very close to the edge of the card stock, then align the die from the other end (the pinked edge locks into place easily), and cut again for a 3-5/16" finished pinked square.  Cutting that close to the edge of the card stock, the die might want to slide off, so I held it in place with Post-it tape for both cuts.
• The sentiment "with sympathy" is from PTI keep it simple: sympathy, stamped with PTI cocoa bean ink cube.

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Curving Scallops with Muted Teal and Light Green

A softly colorful sympathy card.  I chose my card stock colors to bring out the slightly brighter colors in the patterned paper, which (except for the touches of pink) is mostly dark and subdued.  The curving scalloped borders contrast nicely with the straight lines above.

Card details:

• Card stock is Paper Source sage (light green) and Papertrey Ink (PTI) ocean tides (muted teal).
• Patterned paper is Craft Smith dark floral 12 x 12" collection (thanks for sharing with me, Vicki!)
• Embroidery floss is DMC 772.
• Die is from PTI round off edgers.
• The sentiment "deepest sympathy" is from Stampabilites card phrases, stamped with PTI fresh snow (white) ink cube, then (after the white ink was dry) restamped with ocean tides.  
• Technique: With ocean tides ink stamped directly on the green cardstock, the sentiment looked too green; a base layer of white ink solved my problem. 

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Balloons on Yellow with Teal

Since I don't make a lot of birthday cards, my first thought about the new Papertrey Ink (PTI) birthday balloons set was "I don't need that."  But after seeing the design team samples, and with the help of some friendly "enabling" on the PTI forum, I bought it all - stamps, die, and stencils - and I'm very glad I did!

The balloons look great on a birthday card (and I made a few of those, too) but also for this cheerful thank you card.  I chose a sentiment with thin string-like lines to complement the balloon design.

Card details:

• Card stock is PTI lemon tart (yellow), mint julep (light green), aqua mist, and lilac grace (light purple).
• Patterned paper is the gingham print from PTI tropical teal pattern pack (tone-on-tone prints - retired).
• Die is PTI birthday balloons. 
• I used a Copic 0.3 turquoise multiliner to draw the balloon strings (including the short strings across the balloon knots.)  I traced my curves from one of the PTI birthday balloons stencils.  The multiliner isn't the same color as my teal stamping, but in real life, they look good together.
• Technique: Before I drew the strings, I laid down my die-cut balloons where I wanted them.  I used a few inches of Scotch removable tape to hold them together, then made a tiny pencil dot under the "knot" of each balloon.  I also put a dot for the bottom of each string.  Then it was easy to place my stencil and connect the dots.  Note: When I stamped my strings from the balloon set (another similar card, not shown), I used the same approach, but I also masked off the bottom section of my yellow panel.
• The balloon patterns are stamped with PTI birthday balloons using PTI new leaf (green), tropical teal, and amethyst allure (purple) ink cubes.
• The sentiment "thank you" is from PTI keep it simple: thank you II, stamped with PTI tropical teal ink cube.

Created for Operation: Quiet Comfort.

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Red, White, and Blue with Yellow - Thanks

A few layers with straight lines and angled layers.  At first I was thinking of baker's twine for the top accent, but I liked it better with the narrow strip of red print instead.

Note: the gray is background, not part of the card.  And in real life, the dark blue is not as dark as my image.

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) enchanted evening (dark blue), harvest gold (yellow), stamper's select white, and leaf and bitty dot prints from PTI pure poppy (red) pattern pack (retired).
• Dies are from PTI double-ended banners and to the point edgers. 
• Technique:  To line up the edger die, which has a narrow V-shape, I marked a pencil dot at the bottom center of my 5-1/2" wide card stock, then drew a short horizontal line at 1" up from the bottom on the left and right sides.  The marks made it easy to place the die evenly, and because all five dies have similar angles, the same measurement works for all.  And the marks fall on the scrap side of the die cut - no erasing needed.  I made multiples of this card, so to do all the marking quickly, I used a simple template: a 5-1/2 x 1" piece of card stock with a small notch in the bottom center.  I'll save the template with the dies for future use.  While I was at it, I also made a 4-1/4 x 3/4+" template for cutting across the short side of an A2.
• The sentiment "thanks" is from PTI polka dot parade #6, stamped with PTI pure poppy ink cube.

Created for Operation: Quiet Comfort.

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Orange and Yellow Stripes with Circles

Happy and bright, with summery prints and a layered sun circle.

Card details:

• Card stock is Neenah solar white, Papertrey Ink (PTI) orange zest, harvest gold (yellow),  the leaf print from PTI harvest gold pattern pack (retired), and a striped paper that I created using PowerPoint. 
• Dies are PTI sketched shapes (white banner), PTI hello sunshine (orange 1-1/4" circle), WeRMemoryKeepers nesting circles (yellow 1" circle), and Avery Elle icon fill in the blank (asterisk).  
• I used an old 1/4" hole punch for the yellow center dot.  
• The orange banner is notched with scissors, and then I slightly rounded the banner tips with scalloped scissors.
• The sentiment "sending you sunshine" is from PTI hello sunshine, stamped with PTI orange zest ink cube. 
• Technique: For this card, the sentiment needed a bolder font, so I stamped it using the MISTI, then shifted my banner just a tiny bit to the right, and stamped again.  

Created for Operation: Quiet Comfort.

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Gray Thanks on Gray, with Green Vines

Such a simple card, gray-on-gray with green.  It's one of my favorites!  Softly serene, yet with a bold message.  From this card's leftover pieces (dotted word and plain background), I made a second card that's just as nice.

It's a CASE of a beautiful card I received from a fellow card maker.  Hers had a white "thanks" inlaid in a white background, with a sentiment line stamped beneath the die cut word, and lovely bright stamped flowers with delicate green foliage.  Thank you, Ann, for your sweet note and your inspiration!

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) soft stone (light gray) and the bitty dot print from PTI soft stone pattern pack (retired).
• Die is from My Favorite Things many thanks (retired).  The word is inlaid into the background.   
• Technique:  To be sure of getting a smooth, well-stamped image across my die cut lines, I stamped an A2 of both the plain and the patterned card stock, before die cutting, using the MISTI for exact placement.  Then I laid the two A2's together (the lighter weight patterned piece on top, with the MISTI corners aligned) and die cut them both at once.  This worked very well for me.  It might have been okay to die cut and inlay first, then stamp, but I didn't want to take a chance on it.
• The vine leaves are from PTI turning a new leaf, and the sentiment "very much" is from PTI wonderful words: thank you, stamped with PTI green parakeet ink cube.

Created for Operation: Quiet Comfort.

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Yellow Flowers with Gingham, Ribbon, and Doily

For a friend's birthday, I made a card with her favorite color.  Yellow flowers, ribbon, gingham, and dots, with a dotted vellum doily and a dainty bow.  She enjoys my drawings, so I colored one for the center. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Neenah solar white for the flowers, Papertrey Ink (PTI) bright buttercup (deep yellow), gingham print from PTI lemon tart (light yellow) pattern pack (retired), bitty dot print from PTI sheer basics vellum, and bitty dot print from PTI bright buttercup "+ white basics" patterned paper (retired). 
• The flower drawing is the same as this card, which has links to other cards using this drawing.  It's computer printed, then colored with Copic markers Y11,15,19,38, YR09,24,27, YG05, G14, E11,44, B21,24, V04, and W5.
• Dies are WeRMemoryKeepers nesting circles (1-3/4" and 2") and PTI Parisian lace doily.
• Ribbon is 3/8" satin.  
• Technique: Over the years, I've tried a few different ways to seal my ribbon ends, and none have worked very well for me.  This time, I tried a small amount of Ranger multi medium matte, which I thin a bit with water and use with a Quilled Creations precision tip bottle top as my favorite liquid glue.  I squeezed out a thin line of it onto my nonstick craft mat, then lightly dipped/dabbed the ends of my ribbon.  It dried clear, clean, and almost invisible.  Very quick and easy.  This will be my ribbon sealing technique from now on. 

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Dark Brown Brocade with Green

Earlier today, I posted a pastel card with a shimmery taupe brocade patterned paper.  When I made it, I was wishing I had the brocade paper in different colors, so I tried sponging it with brown ink. 

It was a lovely success!  The pearly shimmer pattern resisted the ink, and the taupe base paper took the ink very nicely.  Sometime I'll try the technique again with different colors.    

In real life, my bright green word stands out beautifully against the dark brown brocade.  

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) new leaf (green), dark chocolate (brown),  the bitty dot print from PTI new leaf pattern pack, and Paper Source "brocade taupe" pattern (retired).
• Die is PTI big basics: thanks.
• To change my patterned paper from taupe to dark brown, I used a round Ranger ink blending tool with a PTI dark chocolate ink cube.

Created for Operation: Quiet Comfort.

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Blue with Stars in Red, White, and Gold

Another set of cards for our local American Legion post, to be signed by the group and mailed to some of their older members.  The cards are all the same, except for different combinations of patterned paper behind the blue star cutouts.  The gold stars add some sparkle and texture, though not glitter.  Very handsome in real life.

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) enchanted evening (dark blue), stamper's select white, prints from Pebbles Americana 6 x 6" pad, and Tim Holtz deco sheets (gold).  This was my first time using the deco sheets, and I do like the effect.  
• Technique: The plastic-y deco sheet material die cut cleanly (using PTI low-profile dies), but it was more like "perforations" instead of fully cut lines - even though the backing was completely cut through.  (This can happen with some materials, such as clear packaging plastics, which my husband tells me are actually very thick liquids like glass.)  So I needed some patience to separate the shapes.  Also, when removed from the backing, the material was quite flexible and floppy, like vinyl.  It was very worthwhile to use for this project, but I don't think it would work well for me with delicate or detailed shapes. 
• Dies are PTI photo finish strips, cover plate: stars and super star borders.
• The sentiment "happy birthday" is from PTI keep it simple: birthday.  I needed an orange-toned red ink to match my patterned paper, so I stamped twice (thanks to the MISTI) with PTI orange zest (orange) and then pure poppy (red) ink.  This combination worked perfectly. 

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Lattice and Chevron - Embossing with Stencil

A simple layout with angles and curves.  This card looks really nice (and less pink!) in real life.  The melon berry and terra cotta tile colors are difficult for me to capture on screen.

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) melon berry (light orange), dark chocolate (brown), and terra cotta tile (deep rusty orange), bitty dot print from PTI dark chocolate pattern pack, and script print from PTI dearest Jane.
• Die is Poppy Stamps lattice edge.  The "thanks" word is cut with Silhouette Cameo.
• Embossing is done with PTI modern background stencil collection, chevron pattern.  The PTI stencil is thicker material than other stencils I have, and it embossed beautifully for me.
• Technique - see warnings below.  For embossing with the PTI stencil, my Big Shot sandwich was:  
• Multipurpose platform, Tab 1 only
• Cutting plate
• Two layers of lightweight card stock (I used label sheets from PTI card stock packages)
• Both PTI embossing pads
• PTI card stock
• PTI stencil
• Cutting plate
•  Warnings:
• The sandwich felt tight but comfortable going through my machine.  (Like cutting with a PTI cover plate.)  But everyone's machine is different, so please be careful if you try it!  
• Make sure your stencil edge doesn't extend past the side of your cutting plate, or it could be damaged going through the Big Shot, as has happened to me with card stock.

Created for Operation: Quiet Comfort.

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Red Polka Dots with Yellow and Teal

Today's card is for this week's Papertrey Ink Make It Monday challenge: customizing patterned paper.  I like the red and white polka dot paper with the extra pops of yellow and teal stamping.  With some embossed dots for the card base, striped twine, and a diagonal "hello," it makes a bright and cheerful card.

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) summer sunrise (yellow), tropical teal, and aqua mist, and the polka dot print from PTI pure poppy (red) "+ white basics" patterned paper.
• Embossing folder is Darice dot point. 
• Die is PTI wonderful words: hello, with two colors layered and offset a bit for a shadow effect.
• Twine is marigold (yellow) and Caribbean (turquoise) stripe from The Twinery.
• Yellow and teal circles are stamped onto the red and white patterned paper.  I used large dots from PTI confetti toss, stamped with summer sunrise and tropical teal ink cubes.  
• Technique:  Since there's no individual stamp for the open circle (teal), I used a cluster stamp and tried to ink just the one circle.  To catch any stray ink, I made a mask by punching a 1/2" circle in scrap paper to lay on top of the red patterned paper. 

Created for Operation: Quiet Comfort.

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Yellow with Blue, Pink, and Leaves

For today's Papertrey Ink 9th Anniversary paper crafting alphabet challenge.  Using my first name and the alphabet list, my challenge was to make a card with at least five colors, dry embossing of some kind, and a new product that I had purchased but not yet used.  It didn't work as I planned, but I'm happy with the end result.

My five colors are yellow, two shades of green, blue, and pink.  After I tried in vain to stencil with my new product (a Dreamweaver stencil screen), I thought of dry embossing my yellow card base with it.  I love the crisp, fine woven texture it gave me!

And later, after I finished my card, I found the problem with my stenciling efforts ...  But I'm glad it didn't work for me at first, because then I tried an "off label" technique with the screen, and now I have a new embossing look that I'll enjoy using.

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) lemon tart (yellow), berry sorbet (pink), limeade ice (light green), simply chartreuse (medium green), and stripes print from PTI spring rain (light blue) pattern pack.
• Dies are PTI branching out (I used partial cuts) and Elizabeth Craft hello. 
• Technique: To emboss my card stock with the Dreamweaver faux cross-stitch stencil screen, I used this sandwich on my Big Shot (starting from the bottom): Multipurpose platform (all tabs), cutting plate, PTI card stock, screen, thin PTI embossing pad, cutting plate.  It felt tight going through my machine, but not overly so.

Created for Operation: Quiet Comfort.

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Leafy Sampler Square

My leafy sampler card was created for yesterday's Papertrey Ink 9th Anniversary challenge.  Here's the challenge:  "In honor of our 9th Anniversary, you are challenged to cut nine 1-1/2” squares from white cardstock, then alter all nine of the squares using a variety of techniques, colors, stamps, etc. Be sure to do something different to each square!  ..... adhere the nine squares to a 5-1/2” x 5-1/2” square card front ..."

So I decided to use 9 different ink techniques, all of them new to me.  I'm not a "get inky" kind of crafter.  Even the inky basics of blending, smooshing, and splattering were new experiments for me.  I was surprised at the nice results I got on my first try, which will encourage me to do more with these techniques, and my squares even look pretty good together!

I chose just a few stamps and colors to give my design some unity.  My nine different techniques were ...
Top row: Doodling on a stamped image (with white gel pen and Copic olive 0.3 multiliner), ink splattering, sponging on a stencil
Middle row: Emboss resist, ink smooshing, watercolored background with reinkers and a stencil
Bottom row: Ink blended background, multicolor stamping (reinkers dabbed onto the stamp), and shadow stamping with two colors of ink.

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) mint julep and stamper's select white.
• Twine is shore (light blue) stripe from The Twinery.
• Stencil is by Crafter's Workshop.
• Inks are PTI blueberry sky (medium blue), new leaf (medium green), and pinefeather (dark green).
• Stamps are from PTI turning a new leaf.

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