Dear Ones cards for May

Hi there friends! It's time for more "Dear Ones" cards. This month I was determined to use a set from Papertrey Ink called Topiary Trio. I had to have it months ago and yet I still hadn't used it! This is a rarity for me - when I buy - I use LOL. But for some reason this set, which I adore, kept getting pushed to the back of my stamp bin. Anyhow, I played around with the stamps and finally decided to use just one of the little topiaries (and one pretty sentiment). I used the dies to cut out the image on white cardstock as I'd decided to stamp the stem/trunk and the container and use colored cardstock for the round leafy ball (what do you call that anyway?? - i think you know what I'm talkin about!) I used my Misti to do all the stamping - and I gotta say again here that Misti was one of the best tool purchases I've ever made. Not only did I crank out the stamping parts of these cards in no time flat - i was actually talking to my friend June (HI JUNE!) while I was stamping - something I normally cannot do. I gotta be concentrating ya know what i mean? But that Misti took all of the work (and concentrating) out of the mix and I could just chat, drink coffee, and stamp. I used the Lil Inker stitched rectangles again and the patterned paper is all from the Fine Linen Pattern Pack from Papertrey Ink. Pretty simple cards but I think they look rather elegant! And perfect for the recipients. That's all for today kids! Thanks so much for stopping by.

Papertrey Ink April Blog Hop

Hello Friends! It's Papertrey Ink's Blog Hop day. The challenge was to create something using Navy and Pink. When I saw that I knew I'd have to play along. I love this color combo. It's just so classic. The other day I started playing around with some ideas but I knew I'd be doing something with either polka dots or stripes. And that I'd be making something that was kinda go-big-or-go-home. I made three cards. The first one here using Polka Dot Basics stamped with Fresh Snow Ink then embossed with white embossing powder (just to get those polka really white!) I used the Enclosed: Flower die and Berry Sorbet Cardstock. Then I backed it with white cardstock run through my Big Shot with a Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder. I also made a butterfly using Beautiful Butterflies and the Beautiful Butterflies Layers set, positioning the die cut so that curly part of the wing took the spot right over the dot
for the "i".


My second card: I used my Misti with the Background Basics: Super Stripes to create that striped background. (Creating backgrounds with the Misti was a big selling point for that tool for me - it made creating this background so easy!) I used the Graceful Greetings set (stamped twice, again using the Misti, to get a really solidly stamped sentiment in Enchanted Evening ink.) as well as the Ruby Rose set to create that embellished flower. I added a PTI button and some embroidery floss to finish it off. Oh yes... and a little machine sewing around the striped panel.

My third card is pretty much like the first one I just reversed the color scheme of Berry Sorbet and Enchanated Evening and using the same stamp sets and dies and embossing folder.

That's all for me for today - I'm off to do some errands then come back and check out everyone's cards on the hop! Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!

Dear Ones - April

Good morning friends! Finally getting back here to post my "Dear Ones" cards for April. 

I'd started making them last Wednesday when I got together with some crafty friends (Hi June and Amy!). 

I'd recently gotten the Misti and wanted to give it a little work out. (I don't know about you, but when I get a new tool I really have to spend some time with it. Learn the in's and out's and so forth. The Misti, for me at least, was no exception. It took some time to get acclimated. Beforehand I watched a number of videos and then I really just played with it for an afternoon, not making anything but trying out the possibilities. It's not that its hard LOL it's more there are lots of ways to use it and I want to take full advantage of my purchase :-))

Anyway I knew I'd be seeing my friends on  Wednesday so I played all Tuesday afternoon with the Misti. I decided that at the playdate I'd make 12 cards so I'd have my Dear Ones:April edition done plus some extras to have on hand. 

I set up my Misti so that I was all set to stamp each layer/color when I saw my friends on Wednesday. I should say here that when we do these get togethers, I do more talking than stamping normally. I am more of a solitary stamper/artist (read: I work better alone LOL). But with my Misti set up, ready to go I was feeling confident I'd get some cards made. 

And I actually did get my cards created. There was one stamp that I had to use repeatedly (that tiny 3 flower stamp that appears 2 times on each card. That one I did by hand later when I got home). Of course there was still the assembling to do but that went quickly - and yes I did that at home as well. 

I have to say that Misti really made the whole job much quicker and not like a job at all. And really - the stamping is supposed to be fun isn't it? Okay kids - that's all from me today. I have fooled around enough with blogger for one morning! Thanks for stopping by!