PTI Make it Monday 274

Hello to you all,

It is Monday so that means Papertrey Ink Make it Monday Challenges. This one was hard for me. The challenge was to use pattern paper and die cuts with minimal stamping...keeping your card clean and uncluttered. That is not really my style...I do like cards with stuff happening, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, I am not one to back down from a challenge so I had a go.

Here is the sample that Lexi gave us as inspiration. She is a master of the clean and simple style I tell you.

So once I got going with this I ended up making two cards which I will show you here. The first is quite masculine...always a real challenge for me but I think it is OK. All the paper is from my scrap box.

I have used the dies from All Booked Up, In the Meadow and Banner Sentiments. The sentiment which is stamped with Memento Rhubarb Stalk is also from the set.

I have popped up the deer for a bit of interest. This card will work beautifully for a friend's birthday that is coming up.

For my second card I decided to use the Simply Jane stamp set and matching dies, one of my very favourite sets. This is the card I am entering in the challenge.

While hunting through my paper I happened upon an old paper pack that had just the most beautiful soft pink and green papers. Then I spied this paper with the writing on it. Well...that was a must use with the Jane Austen quote.

Pale pink card over which I have layered the writing paper cut with a scalloped edge using a Spellbinders die. I have used Mat Stack 1 to cut out a soft floral paper on which I stamped that wonderful quote in Memento Tuxedo Black ink. How lucky that the beautiful little cluster of blossom should fall in just the right place!

I cut out the two lovely friends from two other paper scraps in pink and green. I have popped up the friends for a bit of dimension. It may be a CAS card but there has to be something happening!  :)

And that is it. I cannot thank you all enough for stopping by, leaving me your amazing comments and following my blog. It puts a great big smile on my face.
Cheers.

  ~ Melanie ~

PTI Make it Monday 273

Hello there everyone,

I am sorry that it has taken me so long to get this card done and get it posted. Where I live in Eastern Ontario, Canada we have been hammered a couple times this week with snow. I live right out in the country and it was a whole day before I could even get the car down the road...took a while for the plow to get to us. I needed a crucial element for my card and needed to go to town to get it, as you will soon see.  :)

So, I am playing along today with Papertrey Ink Make it Monday and I do have a card to share but first of all I wanted to thank all you wonderful and creative card makers who stopped by my blog for my very first Papertrey Ink Blog Hop and left me such amazing and encouraging comments. Oh my gosh... I cannot thank you enough. I loved visiting all your blogs and came away so inspired by your amazing talent. And if that was not enough...I just found out that I was one of the three winners. I am SO excited!!! Thank you again everyone!

Back to the card making.  :)

The theme of this Make it Monday, done beautifully by Lizzie Jones, is Spinner Cards. You can see her sample here. Beautiful, isn't it?

For my card I used a white card base and cut out a HUGE hole in it with a scalloped Spellbinders die (should have been smaller but I misjudged and I wanted to use that pattern paper) so had to go with it.

The stamp set and matching die that I used is Papertrey Ink Polka Dot Parade #1. I cut out the bunny twice from pink cardstock and then stamped a heart on the front side with my favourite heart stamp from Papertrey Ink Stitched Sentiments in Memento Rose Bud ink.

As per Lizzie's instructions I sandwiched my two bunnies together with thread in between and then stuck them between my cardstock and pattern paper.

I have used part of the sentiment "Some and loves you" from the stamp set, done in Memento Tuxedo Black. I did not want to use the "Bunny" part as it would be lost on the paper. Instead I cut out the letters three times using my old Cricut, layered them up and mounted them on a Spellbinders label die which I sponged with Memento Summer Sky ink. The pattern paper has a tiny bit of blue in it and I wanted to pick that up.

At the top I have added a few felt flowers cut with Papertrey Ink Doodlie Do die set. The larger pink blooms have a button tied with bakers twine and the tiny blue flowers (again to pick up the blue from the paper) are just sewn with an X with white embroidery floss.

And now the best part, in my opinion anyway.

The reverse side of the bunny has a small white pompom for a tail. Hence the trip to town to the craft store. I cut off part of the pompom to make it somewhat flat and put on gobs of glue to hold it in place. I had to take this picture lying down since being a spinner card it wants to spin and only show the front with the heart when it stops. :)

That is it for me for today. Thank you so much for your support with leaving me comments and following my blog. I cannot tell you how much it means. Have a wonderful weekend. Cheers.

  ~ Melanie ~

PTI January 2017 Blog Hop

Hello there everyone,

Today I am participating for the very first time in the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop. I think this will be fun! Here is the inspiration photo.

I started with a basic 5 x 7 white card and I have die cut several layers from black and white card stock using a couple of Spellbinders dies and layered them with pop dots. The layers are quite subtle and did not really show up when I tried to photograph the card from the side. 

For my stamps I have used Papertrey Ink Year of Flowers: Mums. I used the coordinating dies and cut them out, stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured with the Copics you see below. 

I have used the Papertrey Ink Tiny Tags die and a sentiment from the Tag Its #1 stamp set for the teeny little tag at the bottom which I then tied up with a snip of red picot ribbon.

So that is it for me for today. I cannot wait to see what wonderful things everyone else has created on this blog hop today. 

Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your comments. It means so much to me. Enjoy the rest of the stops along the hop. 

And... I have decided to enter this card in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes. Cheers.

  ~ Melanie ~

Double D Challenge Black and White

Hello there everyone,

I am playing along for the very first time with the Double D Challenge. I read about it on Leslie Miller's amazing blog and thought I would give it a go. The theme for the challenge is Black and White and here is the mood board that is to serve as inspiration.

I kept my card pretty simple. In fact...no stamping at all. Just die cuts. 

Basic white 5 x 7 card layered with a couple pattern papers. Over that I have used the Papertrey Ink Tag Sale 4 die in white tied up with a bit of spotty ribbon. 

I have used the Papertrey Ink Beautiful Butterflies dies in black which I have popped up on pop dots and slightly bent back the wings.

The sentiment die is from Lawn Fawn. Oh boy...the teeny tiny little dot that goes on top of the "i" in birthday is SOOO small! Lastly I added a single black gem in the bottom corner.

I am looking forward to following their blog and participating in future challenges to keep the creative juices flowing.

Thank you for leaving me your comments which mean so very much. Cheers.

  ~ Melanie ~ 

Papertrey Ink Make it Monday 272

Hello there everyone,

Melissa Phillips did a fantastic technique for Papertrey Ink Make it Monday which was a Masked Heart Wreath. I loved it. I am playing along.

I used a Spellbinders heart to create my mask. At first I thought I would do a lovely soft pastel coloured card like Melissa had done. At that point I realized that I actually have very few pastel coloured inks. Rats!

I therefore decided to go bold and bright. This card will be for very dear friends who will be celebrating their anniversary next month. 

I used the stamps from the Papertrey Ink sets Stitched Sentiments and Ruby Reprise to stamp all around the heart. I used all the red shades of Memento inks that I own. It would appear that I have quite a few of those! I added greenery here and there and then added the teeny weeny little blossoms from Stitched Sentiments. These were done in more pastel colours as I wanted to balance the boldness of the reds with something a little softer. I also added a few swirls from Stitches & Swirls. All the inks used are Memento. 

The sentiment is from Think Big Favorites #16. I only used the "anniversary" part.

The final stamping touch is the lovely little stitched heart at the bottom, in red of course! 

Since I was using the stitching stamps I decided to use a My Favorite Things Homespun Stitch Lines die along the side to create a stitching line. 

The focal point in the heart is the die from Papertrey Ink One Big Happy. I cut it out three times to give it some depth.

Popped it onto a white 5 x 7 card with a red mat and all done.

This was a really fun technique and I plan to give it a try with some other shapes.

Thank you for visiting with me and leaving me your questions or  comments. 
I truly appreciate it. Cheers.

  ~ Melanie ~

The Start of a Tradition

Hello there to you all...

I had meant to post these photos AGES ago and never did.

My sister-in-law and her two amazing daughters and I had made a decision this past Christmas that we would try to exchange some hand-made gifts. I knew immediately what I wanted to do. 

I love all things vintage...from furniture to clothes and most especially anything to do with Christmas. 

I decided to try to make those amazing little houses that were so popular ages ago. I have always loved them but although I have seen lots of photos of them, I have never had an opportunity to buy one. So I have made them.

To accomplish this I have used the Papertrey Ink Tiny Town dies. I also decided that this would be the start of an annual tradition so that everyone will get a new building each year until I think we all have enough houses and then that will be that. :)

This year I made the basic house dwelling. 7 of my friends and family got these little houses and I made one for myself as well as you will see here.

My dear sister Mary and a couple of my friends got houses all in white. I have mounted them on artist board and I signed and dated each one along with recipients name. The entire house is covered in glitter and I adhered a couple wee trees purchased at Michaels along with some cotton batten snow.

After making the white ones I thought perhaps I should try some in different colours. I first tried just changing the colour of the glitter but that did not really work well. Back to the drawing board and I eventually watercoloured the houses before adding the clear glitter. I should mention that for more stability I used heavy watercolour paper for all the house construction.

This next one for my sweet niece Hannah was done is blues and pinks.

This next one for my wonderful niece and fellow dog lover Charlotte done is golds and soft reds.

After I had made this lot I began to get a bit more adventurous and decided to try to make my little houses look like the actual houses my friends lived in.

A wonderful woman who is the mom of one of my very dear friends and who actually shares the same birth date as my own mother (and she lets me call her Mumsy) lives is a lovely white house with blue shutters and black roof so this became her little house.

And the daughter of Mumsy and her family live in a log home that her hubby built all by himself. He is an amazing craftsman. Here is their home, complete with red front door and green metal roof. I must confess that it was a good bit of work cutting out and sticking on all those little logs.

And lastly we have the little house that I made for myself. Mine is all in white. Mine also has different coloured trees as I had to go with what I could find at Michaels. I bought up all that they had in green trees but will need more for next year. I thought I would show you all four sides of the house so you can see that there are windows all the way round. The other change to my house is it occurred to me to put something in the windows. I used a piece of acetate which I coloured up with a deep yellow Copic so it will look like the warm glow inside a house on a Winters eve. Too late now for the other ones as I did not think of that in time.

So there you have it. I absolutely adore the Tiny Town and hope to purchase some more of the building additions to make more little houses to continue this tradition next year.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful day. Cheers.

  ~  Melanie  ~

MFTWSC 315

Hello again everybody,

The grey day continues and amazingly enough...so does my productivity.  :)

I am participating in the My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Challenge #315 and you can see the sketch here.

I began with the basic white A2 card and found this red heart paper in my stash that seemed perfect to use as I had decided to make a Valentines card.

I have used a Spellbinders Page Maps die, namely On The Edge, along the edge of the card in white.

I know that the sketch shows the bunting on the left but I did not want to detract at all from that lovely heart border so I put it on the other side. I again used a Spellbinders die, this time called Baby Bunting.

The adorable focal image I have used is from My Favorite Things Ewe Are The Best. How can you not just adore those little munchkins?!

I used the coordinating die to cut out the image, stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured it up with the Copics shown below. The sentiment is from the same stamp set.

I have been fairly faithful to the sketch and kept it quite simple to let that cute wee sheep carry the show.

Thanks for visiting and leaving your amazing comments. They make my day. Cheers.

   ~ Melanie ~

SSS Wednesday Challenge Winter Birthday

Good morning to you all...

After yesterdays beautiful sunshine we are faced with a dull and grey day. Good time to work on a card. :)

I am playing along with the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge this week and the theme is Winter Birthday with the use of Lawn Fawn stamps if possible.

I do not have very many Lawn Fawn stamps but I do have a few and managed to use one that worked.

Started with a basic white A2 card. Found this pattern paper from an old paper pack in my stash (you never know what you will find as rarely is anything thrown out) and that seemed to work nicely.

I have used the cute wee penguin from the Lawn Fawn Toboggan Together stamp set with the coordinating die, stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured up with the grand total of three Copic markers. :)

The snowflakes are cut using Spellbinders dies and I have added some Stickles to make them sparkle which I hope you can see in this photo.

The "happy birthday" portion of the sentiment is from the Lawn Fawn die Happy Birthday Border. I simply cut off the end of it and then used the sentiment from the Toboggan Together stamp set.

That is all from me for the moment. Thanks a lot for stopping by and most especially for leaving me your comments. I really appreciate it. Cheers.

  ~  Melanie  ~

Power Poppy Power and Spark Challenge January

And hello once again. :)

It is a glorious day here in eastern Ontario with brilliant sunshine reflecting off the snow. We had a huge storm yesterday that dumped about another 6" of snow on us. If you stand in the field beside my house it is about up to your knees now. So after a walk in the sun and a visit to my chickens to let them have their turn in the sun I headed back to make another card.

This one is another for the Power Poppy Power and Spark Challenge for January. I watched a video on Jennifer McGuire's blog the other day and have used her technique for this card. Thank you for the idea Jennifer. :)

I chose to use that beautiful spray of blossom and pussy willows from the Bloomin' Wonderful stamp set. I stamped on white cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then coloured in the image with the Copics shown below.

In her video Jennifer used a coordinating die to cut out the aperture in the two gate fold flaps on the front of her card. Since I did not have a die to use and being the sort of person who occasionally likes to make things as difficult as possible for herself... I chose to fussy cut the opening. 

After tweaking it to my liking several times I passed the two pieces through a lovely swirly embossing folder and adhered to the card. I felt that something was missing so I edged all around the two front flaps with a silver Pilot marker. 

And finally, in order to close it, I added a vellum belly band stamped and embossed in white with the sentiment from Potted Primroses. I did not make the belly band very tight as it would be too difficult to get it past all those little cut out bits. The card more or less stays closed, certainly enough to pop it into an envelope.

Here is a close up of the floral spray inside the card. I do love the look of pale coloured flowers so kept the crocus a pale yellow and the snowdrops have just a tiniest touch of green.

And there you have it. Quite chuffed with the way this turned out and I know just who will be getting this for her birthday.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and of course leaving your comments. It means so much to me. Cheers.

  ~  Melanie  ~

Papertrey Ink Make it Monday 2016 a la Carte

Hello everyone,

I have a simple card, only one layer even... for the Papertrey Ink Make it Monday 2016 a la Carte. I have chosen to use Betsy Veldman's Reverse Stenciling technique. 

I used one of the stencils that came with that fantastic Make It Market kit Garden Gate. 

Over that I layered the leafy branch and the birds from the Songbirds stamp set. The branch and the larger bird were cut with the coordinating dies.

Memento inks were used for everything.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I would love it if you left me your comments. Have a wonderful day. Cheers.

  ~ Melanie ~

Power Poppy Winter Blooms Challenge

Hello everyone,

I have a very simple card that I did today for a dear friend of mine who is not feeling all that well. I decided to use the theme of the Power Poppy Winter Blooms challenge as my design.

I have used two Power Poppy stamp sets for the card. The focal image is one of the smaller little crabapples from the Happy Crabapple set and all the sentiments are from Daffodils. 

Basic 5 x 7 white card base over which I layered some very old pattern paper from my stash.

I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured it up with Copics as shown below.

I cut out the crabapples and the mat with Spellbinders Labels 16 dies and popped up the focal image for a bit of dimension.

 A little bit of ribbon and a scattering of pale green pearls and it is done and I can pop it into the mail tomorrow morning.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great day. Cheers.

  ~ Melanie ~